


Tails

by keep_waking_up



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Crimes & Criminals, Discrimination, Discussion of Prostitution Eugenics and Gang Activitiy, Kidnapping, Knotting, M/M, Murder, Police Incompetence, Segregation, Sexual Entitlement, Speciesism, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2018-02-07 09:43:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 67,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1894395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keep_waking_up/pseuds/keep_waking_up
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Jared couldn’t imagine the kitsunes had ever lived without the werefoxes to look down on and this was just another example of it.</i>
</p><p>Jared Padalecki is a homicide detective for the werefox police, up until the kitsune police department decides to recruit him as their ‘Fox Consultant.  There is nothing Jared wants less than having to work with the kitsunes, but he doesn’t have much of a choice.  Of course, on the first day of his new job, one of the city supervisors is murdered and an official from the US government is flown in to handle it—one Jensen Ackles, an eight-tailed Heaven kitsune.  Jared isn’t sure what’s going on, but he just wants to lay low and stay out of trouble.  Unfortunately, fate—and Jensen—have other plans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Art by dulcetine. Beta'd by deceptivemirror.

Supposedly, there was a time when werefoxes didn’t exist.  Supposedly, once upon a time, they were all kitsunes.  Supposedly, they all used to have multiple tails and powers to go with them.  Supposedly, they’d all once been equal.

 

Jared thought that was a load of bullshit.

 

He wasn’t a naive kit anymore, if he had ever really been one in the first place.  He had seen the big wide world—or at least his corner of it—and he couldn’t imagine the kitsunes had ever lived without someone to look down on.

 

_This_ was just another example of it.

 

Jared had worked long and hard in order to climb to the top of the werefox police force.  There was only so far he could go, because the DPDFU—Dallas Police Department Fox Unit—only dealt with ‘fox crimes.  They had no authority over kitsunes or any crimes against them. 

 

The DKPD--Dallas Kitsune Police Department—handled all matters relating to kitsunes.  Supposedly, they were fair and just in their pursuit for justice.  Maybe if Jared had lived in one of the nicer districts, he would have believed that, but he lived in the Void District, generally thought of as the center of crime and debauchery in Dallas.  He’d grown up next to prostitutes and drug lords.  He’d heard too many tales of exactly _how_ the DKPD conducted their business to think that they were anything but biased.

 

Werefox prostitutes had taken the fall for rich kitsune widows.  Small-time neighborhood ‘fox dealers would get sent to jail for a rich tail’s misdeeds.  Even in the brawls between children, everyone knew that the ‘fox would get punished and the ‘tsune would be let off scot-free. 

 

The DKPD definitely wasn’t discreet about their prejudices.  As Jared was just finding out, their demands were equally heavy-handed.

 

The chief of the DPDFU, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, spread his hands helplessly.  “Look, Jared, I’m no happier about this than you are.  You’re one of my best men, you know that.  But the DKPD wants a ‘fox consultant to help them with their ‘fox cases.  And they’ve specifically requested you.”  Jeff leaned over his desk a bit, expression grim but pleading.  “You know they won’t take anyone else from the department.”

 

“Right,” Jared scoffed, shaking his head angrily.  His hands clenched into tight fists as he was reminded, once again, of what he wished he could forget. 

 

In the Void District, there were only so many ways to make a living, especially since most people didn’t have the money to send their children to one of the ‘fox universities.  It was a werefox only district, after all, and, due to its reputation, it could be hard to get work outside the area.  Void was Dallas’s very own slum and almost no one got out unless they had something going for them.

 

The cuff around Jared’s right wrist chafed, like it always did when he thought about things like this.  He’d worked hard to get a job outside of Void in the DPDFU, but he wasn’t stupid.  He knew his mixed heritage had done three-fourths of the work for him.

 

The cuffs were mandatory.  Everyone had to wear them.  They advertised exactly _what_ everyone was.  Werefoxes wore black cuffs.  Kitsunes wore different color cuffs depending on their classification, and also had silver studs on them, the number of studs letting everyone know exactly how many tails they had.

 

Jared’s cuff had two stripes, one black and one white.  Every day, it signaled to everyone exactly what he was.  ‘Foxes called him a null.  Kitsunes said he was shinai.  He preferred the former.  He didn’t like the lilt that came into the tails’ voices when they spoke about _shinai_.

 

In Void, his mother had been a prostitute.  She’d had a wealthy kitsune client and  and she’d ended up pregnant.  That was how Jared had been born, part-kitsune and part-werefox.  In other words, null.

 

 

Luckily, werefox genes were dominant, so other than a few small physical characteristics, Jared was ‘fox through and through.  He’d never known his father, nor had any desire to.  He’d just wanted to do his best and get a good job so he could support his mother and his little sister.  He might only have achieved that because of his rare genetics, but if it meant his mother could stop working and his sister could go to college, then he would grit his teeth and bear it.

 

It didn’t mean he had to _like_ it, though.

 

“Jared,” the chief said, “you know how the tails are about these kind of things.  The moment they heard we had a null working as a detective here, they insisted they’d only have you as their liaison.” 

 

“I can’t imagine why,” Jared spat out, his nails biting into his palm. 

 

Most shinai took advantage of their mixed blood.  All the others Jared had met had dreamed of becoming what amounted to _pets_ —what was called jirai—for wealthy kitsune families.  They lived in the lap of luxury, and if they had to let the kitsunes fuck them, well, it was all worth it.

 

As soon as he’d turned fifteen, Jared had received offers.  Even though he’d been concerned about his family, he’d never even contemplated one of them.  That wasn’t _him_.  He wouldn’t let some kitsune bend him over—he wouldn’t give up his _dignity_ —just so he could eat some nice food and sleep on silk.

 

Jeff cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable.  “It did seem like it was an actual job, not…”  He trailed off, eyes casting to the side.  “They really do seem to be telling the truth about wanting a werefox consultant.”

 

Privately, Jared doubted they were really that earnest.  From what he’d heard, the President of the United States had appointed some new ‘tsune to oversee all the police departments in the country.  The DKPD was probably just trying to look good.

 

Sighing, Jared ran a hand through his hair.  “How long do I have to ‘think about it’?”

 

Jeff winced.  “Seeing as they’ll be arriving here in a little under a half-hour to interview you… not long.”

 

“Fuck!” Jared cursed, shooting out of his seat with a hiss.  “And you couldn’t have told me that _first_?!  Fuck, fuck, fuck!”  He paced the chief’s small office and tried to keep from punching the wall.  It was so _like_ them, to just _assume_ and barge in and fuck up _everything_!

 

Jeff stood as well, looking worried.  “This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, Jared.  It might do a lot of good to have a ‘fox over in their department.  Maybe you can speak up.  Get some things changed.”

 

Ceasing his pacing, Jared looked over at him flatly.  “After all the things you’ve seen while on this job,” Jared said quietly, “do you really believe that?”

 

With a long sigh, Jeff deflated, sitting back down in his chair with a hard thump.  “There isn’t much of a chance, no,” he admitted, before looking back up at Jared, eyes hard and flinty.  “But you’re a damn good detective, null or not.  I have to hold onto the hope that someone over there will realize that.”

 

“Hope is all that’ll come of it,” Jared snarled.  He could feel his teeth lengthening and his eyes turning a bright gold.  Sucking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself.  It wouldn’t do any good to meet the ‘tsunes half-shifted and clearly pissed, especially since shifting at all was looked down upon by the tails.  Rolling his shoulders back, he steadied himself.  “Did they ask for me to bring anything?” He asked carefully.

 

The chief looked relieved that he had brought himself back under control.  “No, they didn’t.  There’s a couple of them coming, I think, and they’ll be meeting with you in the big room down the hall.  You know the one.”

 

Jared was more than a little bit surprised to hear the ‘tsunes were coming to their station.  The DPDFU’s headquarters were located in the Fire District, almost in the middle of the three other werefox districts.  The DKPD was centered in the Thunder District.  Seeing as the Thunder District was almost on the opposite side of the city, it would have been a long drive.

 

Dallas was divided into nine districts.  Eight districts formed a loose circle around the ninth, the Heaven District.  Only the richest ‘tsunes lived there, safely ensconced in towering mansions made out of white marble.  The other eight districts were split into four districts for the ‘foxes—Void, Wind, Fire, and Earth—and four for the tails—Thunder, Ocean, Forest, and Mountain.  On the borders of each district, there were way-stations.  Each person coming in and out of the district was monitored—unless, of course, it was a kitsune coming over to Void to get his dick wet.  In order to get to work, Jared had to cross the way-station between Void and Wind, as well as the one between Wind and Fire.  The journey usually took around an hour and a half.

 

Most ‘fox police officers moved to the Fire District, if they didn’t already live there, but Jared had been determined not to abandon his family.  He came home every day to his mother and his sister, even if he came home late.  He was able to ensure they were safe before going to bed for the night and leaving in the morning.

 

He wondered if the tail police force would try to force him to move.  They’d have a fight on their hands if they attempted that.

 

Nodding to Jeff, Jared strode out of the office and over to the desk he shared with his partner, Charles, who he’d been paired with since he’d been promoted to detective.  Charles was one of the senior detectives on the force, and while they’d never had the buddy-buddy relationship the ‘tsunes depicted in their cop movies, they’d always gotten on well.

 

Charles eyed him as he stormed back over.  Paperwork for their latest case—a dead hooker, which had been immediately taken out of their hands as soon as it was revealed that she had had kitsune clients—was strewn across the desk.  Most likely, the kitsune cops wouldn’t even look at all the careful work they’d done.  “What’d the chief want, kid?” Charles asked gruffly, looking back down at the file.  “Any complications with the case?”

 

Jared threw himself into his chair.  “I wish,” he grumbled.  “The DKPD wants a consultant in their department to help them deal with when ‘foxes are involved.  They’re gonna be here in like twenty.”

 

“Ah.”  Charles didn’t ask anymore.  The rest was pretty self-explanatory, after all.  Without looking up from the paperwork, Charles clapped hand on Jared’s shoulder.  “Give ‘em hell, Padalecki.”

 

Jared grinned fiercely, displaying all his teeth.  “Oh,” he said lowly.  “Believe me, I mean to.”

 

 

*

 

 

There were three of them.  They were all already seated by the time Jared was escorted in, all looking suitably arrogant as they perused three copies of what Jared was pretty sure was his file.  They didn’t look up when he entered, and Jared was left standing and grinding his teeth.  He couldn’t sit down until they gave him permission, obviously.  It was quite clearly a power play, reminding him that, although they might want him, he was still _lesser_.

 

After a minute, the middle ‘tsune finally looked up at Jared, seemingly noticing him for the first time.  “Mr. Padalecki,” he said coolly.  “Please, be seated.”

 

Jared sat down without a word.  He waited.

 

When it became clear he wasn’t going to speak, the kitsune who had spoken before—clearly the leader—asked, “has your chief briefed you on why we are here?”

 

“Yes,” Jared answered succinctly.  The other two kitsunes were exchanging looks behind their leaders’ back that were fairly easy to interpret, given his experience with kitsunes in the past.  They hadn’t expected for Jared to be so tall and broad.  They hadn’t been prepared for the lack of respect or the chilly demeanor he was broadcasting either.

 

Leaning forward, the speaker clasped his hands on the table.  The cuff on his right wrist was light silver, with five studs; he was a wind kitsune with five tails.  Fairly powerful, but nothing extraordinary.  Jared’s suspicion were confirmed when the ‘tsune announced, “I am Michael Massee, Deputy Chief of the DKPD.  As you know, we are looking for a werefox to serve as a consultant on DKPD cases that deal with ‘fox kind.  Specifically, we are looking for someone to aid with the homicide cases involving your ilk.  Recently, we have run into… barriers within the community, and we believe that, with your help to ease other ‘foxes’ minds, we can solve these crimes much more quickly and efficiently.”

 

Jared raised an eyebrow.  “Is that so,” he stated flatly.  It wouldn’t help at all, if he had his way.  He’d spread the word as soon as he got back to Void that the DKPD was recruiting ‘fox help and make sure everyone knew to be cautious.

 

“Yes.”  Massee smiled, and he practically oozed condescension.  “You’ll be assigned a pair of homicide detectives to work with, starting tomorrow.  Your pay will be doubled from what it currently is and—”

 

“Excuse me,” Jared said politely, “but I don’t believe I’ve agreed to accept the position.”  He smiled coldly as Massee and his henchmen looked at him in disbelief.  It was a long shot, but if he could just _refuse_ …  “And I’m afraid that I’ll have to decline.  I am content with my current position.”

 

Massee’s lips pursed.  “Unfortunately, Mr. Padalecki, I’m afraid we can’t simply take no for an answer.  The Chief of Police is quite determined that you be the one to work with us.”

 

“And if I refuse again?”

 

Massee’s eyes narrowed and he spoke from behind gritted teeth.  “Then you will be fired from the DPDFU and blacklisted.  I believe we can make it difficult for you to find work even in the Void District.”  He paused, but Jared had nothing further to say.  He couldn’t afford to be blacklisted like that, not if he wanted to keep his family afloat.  Massee smiled and a thread of wind whipped through the room.  “Now, do you accept the position, Mr. Padalecki?”

 

Jared didn’t bother being polite.  “You’ve made it _quite_ clear that I don’t have any other option.”  He stood and enjoyed the fact that he towered over the seated kitsunes.  “I’ll need a pass in order to commute to Thunder.”

 

Standing, Massee handed a slip of paper over.  “This should work.”  He snapped his briefcase closed and his lackeys hurried to pack up as well.  “We expect to see you at the department at seven tomorrow morning,” Massee informed him, before he breezed out of the room.  Jared was left standing in the empty room, fists clenched.  He waited until he couldn’t hear the kitsunes anymore before heading back to his desk.

 

The only personal possessions he had at work were his lucky pen and a picture of his mother and sister.  His gun was owned by the department, as was almost everything else.  He didn’t have much to pack.  When he reached his desk, he simply shoved his pen in his pocket and grabbed the picture in his left hand.  Charles was looking at him, calm and resigned.  “Do you want any help with that case?” Jared offered.  It was the least he could do.

 

Charles shook his head slowly.  “No, I’m good.  You get home and tell your family.  Get a good night’s sleep.  Thunder District is a long bus ride.”

 

“Yeah,” Jared agreed.  He held out his right hand, and Charles clasped it in a hard shake.  “It’s been good working with you, man.”

 

“Take care,” Charles told him, and it was more of a warning than anything else.

 

The chief looked up when Jared strode into his office.  Jared didn’t say anything, just put his gun and badge down on the desk.  There was a moment of silence before Jeff said, “I meant what I said, Jared.  You’re a good detective and you have a chance to change things over there.”  Heaving a sigh, he stood up and held his hand out for Jared to shake.  “That said, if you get a chance to come back, I won’t say no to having you back in my department.”

 

“Thanks, Chief,” Jared said warmly.  It wasn’t Jeff’s fault that the ‘tsunes had decided his life was theirs to commandeer.  The chief was a good man, over all, and he led a clean department.  Jared would miss working under him, especially when he knew the tails’ Chief of Police, Mitch Pileggi, wouldn’t be nearly as honorable.

 

Almost all the other detectives were out on duty, so there was almost no one to watch as Jared left the building and hopped onto a bus headed for Void.  It all seemed strangely anti-climatic.  Within an hour, Jared’s whole life had been changed and no one seemed to have noticed.

 

 

*

 

 

The house Jared shared with his mother and his sister was in the nicer part of Void.  “Nicer” meant that they had the whole house to themselves, even though it was barely four rooms.  Two tiny bedrooms, an even smaller bathroom, and a cramped combined kitchen/living room made up their entire home, all 750 square feet of it.  His mother and his sister each had their own bedroom.  Jared slept on the pull-out couch in the living room.

 

Once the bus he was riding entered Void, Jared hopped off. He held his papers up for the way-station guard and then strode into his home district.  While Void was admittedly dangerous and steeped in crime, it was never lifeless.  Children ran through the streets, having just gotten out of school.  When they saw Jared, they swarmed him, pulling on his shirt and clamoring for sweets.

 

“Alright, alright,” Jared said with a laugh.  He knew most of the kids because he’d gone to school with their parents.  Most of their parents had gone on to work decidedly sketchy jobs, and once he’d made detective, it had been harder to stay in touch with his old friends.  If he really needed to get word to them about something, he’d pass the message on through their kids.

 

The kids practically dragged him down to Pellegrino’s Candy Shop and Bakery.  Jared’s ex-girlfriend, Genevieve, was working behind the counter and she brightened when she saw him.  “Jared!” She greeted him with a wide smile and looked fondly at the children hanging off of him.  “I guess it’s candy Wednesday?”

 

He and Gen had dated for the last two years of high school.  By then, over half their class had already dropped out of school.  Their graduating class had been one-fourth the size of their freshman class.  He’d always known that they wouldn’t last beyond high school, but Gen had thought otherwise.  Even after they’d broken it off, she’d held onto hope that he’d come back to her.  It was only once she’d married Mark that they were able to be friends again.

 

“Looks like it.”  Jared pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed over twenty-five dollars.  “That should be enough to get them each something.”

 

The kids were bouncing and bobbing behind the counter, pointing at different candies with grubby fingers and yelling their orders at Gen.  She took it good-naturedly, and soon enough, the kids were settled down, munching on their treats.

 

“So, what’s going on?” Genevieve asked, brow creasing.  She knew he only came by to visit the kids when there was news to spread through Void.  He normally tried to give the appropriate people a heads-up when the ‘tsunes were coming through, looking for another scapegoat.  Leaning over the counter, Gen grabbed his hand and squeezed it.  “I can see if I can get word, if you don’t think the kids can.”

 

“It’s a general message,” he told her, rolling his thumb against the ring on her fourth finger.  She was married to one of Void’s top gang leaders.  She’d married him a year after Jared had broken things off with her because he knew he couldn’t give her what she needed.  He wasn’t alienated as a cop, but it certainly meant some people had to keep their distance.  Gen had been too much of a social butterfly for Jared to want to subject her to that.  “Tell Mark that the tails have recruited me.  I’m gonna be working at the DKPD from now on.”

 

Gen sucked in a startled breath, eyes wide.  “But _why_?  How?  I mean, you may be a null, but you’re still _‘fox_.”

 

“I’m going to be a consultant on ‘fox crimes.  They think other ‘foxes will spill easier if I’m involved.”  He looked at her significantly.  “Spread the word so that no one kills me for ‘defecting’.”

 

“I will,” Gen promised.  She looked down at their linked hands and then back up at his face, biting her lower lip warily.  “You know this means Mark and the others will expect you to pass on more information.”

 

Shaking his head, Jared told her, “tell them not to expect too much just yet.  I don’t know how much they’ll really be involving me.  And I gotta be cautious starting out.”

 

“Okay,” Gen agreed.  “I’ll pass all that on.” She paused then smiled at him ruefully.  “Don’t be surprised if Mark and some of the others stop by tonight, though.”

 

Jared nodded shortly, then looked over at the kids.  They were almost done with their sweets.  Already, they were bickering and teasing one another again.  “Will you figure out what to tell the kids?  I need to head home.”  His mother would need time to adjust to the news, especially if they were going to be visited by gang leaders later.

 

“Wait, before you go…”  Gen pulled out a bag from under the counter.  “A few of your mother’s favorites.  Seems like she’ll need ‘em tonight.”

 

“Thanks, Gen,” Jared said warmly, because she was right.  His mother was never all that emotionally stable, and change always sent her off the rails.  “And let Mark know that just because I’m leaving the DPDFU, it doesn’t mean our deal is over.  Charles is still gonna be keeping an eye on him.”

 

Gen grimaced momentarily, but nodded nonetheless.  “I’ll make sure he knows.”  She released his hand, clearly reluctant.  “You take care, Jared.  Don’t do anything stupid.”

 

“I won’t,” he assured her, smiling crookedly.  “Too many things to worry about to be tempted by stupidity.”

 

He patted the kids on the head before leaving.  The bell over the door chimed as he exited the shop and he walked away quickly.  Even though Jared and Gen had been over and done with years ago, Mark was never fond of them talking, so most of the time Jared avoided Gen unless he had important news.

 

Jared’s relationship with Mark was tumultuous at best.  He looked out for the ‘foxes in Void, but at the same time, he was a police officer and couldn’t ignore when the gangs committed actual crime.  He warned Mark about when the ‘tsunes were looking at the gangs for something they probably didn’t actually do, and in return, Mark was understanding when Jared went after members of his gang who killed other ‘foxes in their turf wars.  Jared had also made it clear that the moment an innocent got involved and killed, he would go after Mark with everything he had.  Thus far, it had worked for them.  However, his new job with the tails meant that was likely to change.

 

People didn’t really wave in Void, but they nodded at Jared when he passed.  Almost everyone in the district knew who he was, not only because he’d lived in Void his whole life, but also because of his mother’s reputation.

 

Shelia Padalecki had always been flighty and high-strung, but it had apparently worked for her when she was younger.  Not only had she been spirited, but also pretty in just the way the tails liked.  She’d been _gao_ , or fox-faced, something the kitsunes prized in their conquests.  Tall and leggy, with long brown hair, she had been popular with the visiting tails.She’d worked at the elite brothel in Void, Madame Sam’s House.  Even after Jared and his sister had been born, she’d continued to work there, and had only stopped when Jared was finally able to earn enough to support them.

 

Over the years, though, her high-strung attitude had shifted into nervousness and anxiety.  While Shelia was still extremely social, flitting from one friend’s house to another, she often had to lie down for a while after returning home, recovering from all the stresses of the day.  By the time Jared had been thirteen, he’d been acting more like a parent to his mother than she ever had with him.

 

Most days, Meg was left to take care of their mother, even though she had her own studies to worry about.  Meg was four years younger than Jared and was attending the best ‘fox college in Dallas—Dallas Fox University in Wind District.  She was studying to become a teacher, and Jared often winced at the dinner table as she brought home more and more forbidden literature.  She was even more anti-kitsune than he was; while he was content to hate and undermine them quietly, she wanted to riot and protest.  So far, he’d managed to keep her from joining the other ‘foxes who did so, but he knew it wouldn’t be too long before even his pleas would stop having any effect on her.  He could only hope that her beliefs wouldn’t get her killed.

 

The outside of their house was painted a light, eggshell blue.  Shelia thought it looked pretty, like faded blue jeans.  Meg thought it just looked plain old sad.  Jared tended to side with his sister, but he never told his mother that.

 

His mother wasn’t in the room when he entered, but Meg was sitting at the kitchen table, her books spread out around her.  “You’re back early,” she said, and there was a question in there.  It didn’t take her long to voice it.  “Why’re you back so early?”

 

With a sigh, Jared pulled off his jacket and collapsed in the chair opposite her.  “I got a ‘promotion’,” he said, making quotes with his fingers.  “I’m starting work as a ‘fox consultant to the DKPD tomorrow.”

 

Meg’s eyes widened, and then narrowed in distaste.  “That’s fucking bullshit.  Why didn’t you refuse?”

 

“You don’t think I _tried_?”  Jared threw his hands up in the air.  “They said they’d fucking blacklist me if I refused them.”

 

“Shit,” Meg said after a moment and Jared nodded.  Shit was right.

 

Meg looked almost exactly like their mother did in the old photographs Jared had of her—tall and leggy with long hair and fox-like eyes.  She'd gotten recruitment offers from various brothels back when she was fifteen and just barely fully grown.  She’d refused everyone, with Jared glaring from behind her back at the offending madames.

 

Jared and Meg didn’t have the same father.  Meg’s cuff was all black; unlike Jared, she was ‘fox through and through.  Still, they’d been mistaken for twins numerous times, even though a quick glance at their cuffs would have dispelled the notion. To Jared, though, it didn’t matter that they had different fathers.  She was his sister and that was that.

 

Fingers snapped in front of his face.  “Stop staring at me, weirdo, and _please_ tell me that you’ve already passed on word to the bosses about this.”

 

“Don’t worry,” he told her, waving her hand away.  “I let Gen know as soon as I got back into Void.”

 

Meg raised an unimpressed eyebrow.  “Really.  Gen?  Mark’s not going to be happy.”

 

“Mark can deal,” Jared said with a roll of his eyes.  “Besides, it was the fastest way to spread the information.  Would you have suggested I left that sort of delicate news to the children?”

 

Shrugging, Meg conceded the point.  “I guess that means we’ll have company tonight.”

 

“Most likely.”  Jared’s eyes strayed towards the back bedroom.  “How long has she been in there for?”

 

“An hour or so,” Meg said, twirling her pen in one hand.  “It wasn’t a good day today.”

 

“Great,” Jared muttered as he got out of his chair.  His mother was hard enough to handle on a good day, let alone a bad one.  “I guess I better get it over with then.”

 

“Good luck.”

 

His mother’s room was pitch-black when he entered.  He could just barely make out her shape on the bed.  She didn’t say anything or make any sign that acknowledged his presence.  Sighing, Jared sat down by her side and combed a hand through her hair.  It hadn’t thinned any with age, not yet.

 

“I got some news I have to tell you, Mama,” he said softly.  When she didn’t reply, he continued his soothing strokes and said, “the DKPD has recruited me to work for them.  They want me to consult on werefox crimes.”  She stiffened under his hands.  “Don’t worry, I already told Gen and she’s letting Mark and the others know.  They’ll be over to talk to me tonight.”

 

“Oh, Jared,” Shelia sighed out, and she rolled over to face him, hazel eyes glinting even in the darkness.  “Why couldn’t you have just become a jirai and stayed out of trouble?  I _told_ you the police was no good work for you.”

 

“Shhh, mama, shh,” he soothed her as she began to cry, hysterical little fits of tears.  “It’s gonna be okay, Mama, I promise.  Nothing’s gonna change.  I’m gonna be fine.”

 

“I don’t believe you,” she cried and he wrapped her up in his arms and held her as fierce sobs wracked her body.  He knew it would be a while before she calmed down.

 

*

 

It was nine o’clock before Shelia felt ready to get up.  Meg and Jared had had dinner in that time and watched a few episodes of CSI, even though the ‘foxes in the unit were constantly presented as dumb and always hindered the investigation.  As soon as Shelia was up, she started cleaning.  No matter what Jared and Meg said, she refused to stop.  “I’m not letting the company see the house in this state,” she insisted as she scrubbed the counters frantically.  “I can’t believe you waited until the last moment to tell me, Jared.  Only an hour or so left, probably, and then we’ll have _company_.”

 

“I only found out earlier today,” Jared reminded her, trying to step in and take the rag out of her hand, but she danced away from him.  “C’mon, mama, the house is fine.  Sit down and relax, or head back to your room.  You don’t have to be here when they arrive.”

 

Shelia put her hands on her hips, turning to him with her lips pursed and her jaw set.  “Jared Padalecki, if you think I am going to sit in my room and ignore when there is important company over—”

 

“Alright, alright.”  Jared held up his hands in defeat and watched as his mother went back to scrubbing the already perfectly white sink.  “I’m just saying, you don’t have to do this.”

 

His mother huffed, but otherwise ignored him.  Resigned, Jared walked back and took his seat beside Meg once more.  She was flipping through channels and eventually settled on the local news channel.  It was run by kitsunes—of course—so ‘fox news was kept to a minimum, but they reported all major events.  “Seriously?” Jared griped.  “You want to watch _this_?”

 

“I have a debate tomorrow in class about media and how it influences how ‘foxes think about themselves.  I’m mostly prepared, but it won’t hurt to have more information.” 

 

Meg looked just like their mother when she set her jaw like that, all stubbornness and determination.  Jared sighed and looked up at the ceiling.  “Is _no one_ in this house going to let me have my way tonight?”

 

“Nope!” Meg said cheerfully, clapping him on the back before she refocused on her program.  “Now, shush, they’re going to show the new supervisor’s speech from earlier today.”

 

Each district of the city was “governed” by a supervisor—who was a kitsune, of course.  Void had had the same supervisor for almost eighty years (the average lifespan of a werefox or kitsune being around hundred and twenty years), but he had died a few months ago.  The new supervisor had been elected by the mayor and his council; the inhabitants of Void had no say in who their supervisor would be.

 

The new supervisor, from what Jared had heard, was from an old, established Dallas kitsune family, the Gauthiers.  For a supervisor, he was relatively young, but his lineage had cleared the way for his ascension.  He was part of a semi-radical kitsune group called the Inari Forces, which was apparently heavily invested in the idea of eugenics.  Meg had explained it to Jared shortly after Gauthier had been elected:

 

As she’d explained it, eugenics was the belief that reproduction should be solely to improve the genetic viability of the race.  Therefore, Gauthier—or as she called him, “Gauthy”—and the rest of the Inari Forces believed that only some people were suitable to reproduce.  Therefore, those who were disabled, mentally ‘deficient’, or _werefoxes_ should not be allowed to reproduce, for the sake of bettering the world.  Meg had told Jared with shadowed eyes that the Inari Forces had written many documents advocating for the forcible sterilization of the ‘undesirables.’

 

After hearing all that, Jared hadn’t been able to believe that Gauthier wasn’t in jail, let alone being allowed to run for office.

 

Jared was bumped out of his memories by the nudge of Meg’s elbow against his own.  “Snap out of it, Jared.  They’re about to show his speech.”  She had her cell phone out and was holding it in both hands, even though her eyes were fixed on the TV screen.   When Jared nudged her back and looked pointedly at the phone, she rolled her eyes.  “My friends and I are going to text each other and bitch while we watch,” she informed him.  “We weren’t able to see it live because of class.”

 

Privately, Jared was glad she hadn’t gone.  He was pretty sure she wouldn’t have been able to contain herself and throwing rotten tomatoes—or worse, rotten _words_ —at the supervisor was a surefire way to get yourself thrown in jail.

 

The news show began running the clip.  Jared’s first impression was that Gauthier didn’t _look_ like the sort of man who would be involved with a radical kitsune party.  He was quite plump and sweaty, with long greasy hair.  He held several notecards in his hands, which he fumbled with before he started speaking.

 

“Dear citizens of Void District of Dallas,” he said, voice higher than Jared’s, with a slight lilt making itself present at the end of each sentence.  “My name is Chris Gauthier and I am your new supervisor.”  He looked down at his cards, taking in a deep breath that almost looked like it hurt.  “I know you’ve heard things about me.  Things that have frightened you.  But those of you who are good, law-abiding citizens need not fear anything while I am in office.  I understand that you have lived too long under the foot of these _gangs_ , have too long been forced to pay tribute to _prostitutes_ and other _undesirables_.”

 

Jared remembered Meg using the word before, and he snarled softly when he heard it coming out of that man’s mouth.  The man was smirking slightly as he said it, the right corner of his mouth tilting upwards.  Meg was texting furiously on her phone and each breath she took sounded like a hiss.

 

On screen, Gauthier continued, “Void needs to be _purged_ of those who pollute it.  I know many of you are good citizens and you understand your place within the cloth of society.  But those who threaten that cloth must be stopped.  It is my intention to heighten police force within this district and weed out those who are dragging everyone else down.  It is only with the removal of these _sores_ that this district will be able to take its happy place within the fabric of the nine districts of Dallas.”

 

“What is with all the talk about fabric?” Jared muttered. 

 

Meg elbowed him in the side.  Hard.  “Shut up!” She demanded.  “I wanna be able to hear what the douchebag tail is saying.”

 

Jared didn’t, not really.  He was relieved when the doorbell rang.  He nearly leapt off the couch to answer the door.

 

Waiting on their doorstep were the heads of the three Void gangs: Mark Pellegrino, Justin Hartley, and Mark Sheppard.  “Hey,” Jared said casually, as if it was perfectly normal for all of them to be seen in one place without attempting to gut each other.  He held the door open wider.  “Come on in.”

 

Sheppard was the only one who nodded politely as he passed, murmuring, “my thanks for your hospitality.”  He also took off his black bowler hat and held it against his chest upon seeing Shelia.  “Shelia, my dear, thank you for letting us visit so late.”

 

“Oh, it’s no problem, Mark,” Shelia said with a charming little laugh.  “I just wish I could have had more time to get things ready for y’all.  I know it isn’t much—”

 

Justin smiled over at her, not with desire, like Sheppard did, but merely as though it was a formality he had to get through.  “It’s quite enough, Ms. Padalecki.”

 

“If we’ve got all that gabbing over with…” Pellegrino said leadingly, and his eyes darted between Meg and Shelia.

 

Meg waved a hand from where she was on the couch.  “Don’t mind me.  I’ll be out of your hair as soon as this broadcast is over.”

 

As soon as Justin saw what she was watching, a deep scowl made itself present on his face.  “What’s a nice girl like you doing watching that tail-shit?”

 

Pellegrino crossed his arms over his chest and his expression was more neutral, but far more foreboding than the obvious anger Justin was giving off.  “Hartley’s right.  That clunk-headed tail is as much as asking for a gunshot to the head.”  His eyes turned to Jared for a second, and his lips twitched with a wry sort of amusement.  “Not meant to be taken literally, of course.”

 

“Of course,” Jared replied, and gestured that the men should seat themselves at the kitchen table.  He personally wouldn’t mind if Mark _did_ shoot Gauthier, but it would probably cause more problems than it would solve.  Best to wait a while and let things settle down before trying anything, in his opinion.  Not that he could say that to any of the criminals in front of him.

 

Shelia ghosted over and kissed Jared on the cheek.  “I’ll let you men get to business.  I’ll be back in my room if you need me, dear.”

 

Jared smiled up at her.  “Thanks, mom,” he said fondly.

 

She floated out of the room, and that seemed to make it clear that the time for idle chat was over.  Each of his visitors turned and looked expectantly at Jared.  Jared sighed and splayed his hands out on the table.  “Apparently they’ve been having trouble talking to ‘foxes lately in the course of their investigations.”

 

“Can’t imagine way,” Justin muttered, rolling his eyes, and Jared couldn’t help grinning.

 

“Yeah, well, now they’ve got it into their heads that they need a ‘fox on the force with them and they had their hearts dead-set on me.  I tried to get out of it, but they weren’t really willing to let me go.”  Jared shrugged.  “On the upside, as Gen said, I’ll have more access to their information.  But I’ve got to be more careful now that I have tails on me everyday.  So I don’t know how this is going to go.”

 

Sheppard lightly caressed the wood of the kitchen table.  “You’ve been good to us, Padalecki.  Even with your little ‘deal’ in place—” Sheppard drawled out the words, not disguising his annoyance “—the gangs have been doing better than they have for years.  Now, with Gauthier and your reassignment, that could all be in jeopardy.”

 

Jared didn’t have much else to offer.  “I think that at least the consultant part is because of that new ‘tsune the president appointed as the General of National Police Force Department.  Ackles, I think his name is?  Anyhow, supposedly he’s gonna be coming around all the major departments and making changes.  I think the DKPD is trying to prep for that.”

 

The gang leaders all exchanged wary looks.  “We need to look into this Ackles,” Pellegrino announced.  “And we need you to give us a heads-up when he comes into town.”  He leveled a steady look over the table at Jared.  “Otherwise there could be trouble.  For _all_ of us.”

 

Jared bared his teeth at the implied threat.  “I’m not stupid, Mark,” he snarled lowly.  “You don’t need to threaten me.  Besides, you should remember I’m doing this for Void, not _you_.”

 

“Right.”  They stared at each other for a long moment and Jared _knew_ he wasn’t imagining the animosity pouring from Mark.  “And since you’re not doing it for _me_ , I’m sure you’ll find a way to get word to me without talking to my _wife_.”

 

Jared crossed his arms over his chest, scowling.  “I’m sorry if I wanted to make _sure_ you got word quickly.  Next time, I’ll employ some street urchin and you can hear it through the grapevine.”

 

“Now, now, calm down, boys,” Sheppard cooed, oozing a rancid sort of charm.  “We’re here to talk business, not to fight over a girl like we’re six-year-olds on the playground.”

 

“Right,” Jared snapped.  “So how about this; you guys decide who I should talk to in order to get word to you.  If I have any news, I’ll go there.  If not, you leave me and mine alone.  And even though I’m not DPDFU anymore, you _keep our deal_.”  He stared them all down.  “I’ve still got contacts over there and I can still get you put in jail for life.”

 

Sheppard rolled his eyes, and Justin nodded shortly.  When Jared looked at Pellegrino, the man didn’t move for a moment.  Clearly he wanted to show that Jared had no power over _him_.  Finally, he conceded with a dismissive wave of his fingers.  “Fine.  The deal stands.”  He looked over at the other men.  “If you want to get word to us, talk to Madame Sam.  Her House is neutral ground for all of us.  She’ll make sure her girls spread the word.”

 

When both Sheppard and Justin nodded to show they were on board with the plan, Jared stood up from his chair.  “You have a deal.  Now, get gone.”  He smiled toothily at Pellegrino and said, “oh, and Mark?  Tell Gen I say hi.”

 

Pellegrino stormed out of the house with one last furious look at Jared.  Sheppard shook his head as he walked by Jared.  “Careful there, boy.  Someday you’re gonna get yourself killed.”

 

“I do my best,” Jared answered, and as soon as Justin was out the door, he slammed it shut behind them. 

 

“Well, that was fun,” Meg said dryly from her place on the sofa.  “I’m not sure which was worse to listen to: you guys and your macho bullshitting, or Gauthy’s tail-shit over here.”

 

“Oh, shut up,” Jared told her.  “And go to bed.”

 

“Fine, _dad_ ,” she said with a roll of her eyes, bouncing off the sofa and heading for her bedroom.

 

Jared caught her by the arm right before she left the room.  “Hey.  Don’t do anything stupid tomorrow about Gauthier.”

 

That only caused her to roll her eyes again.  “I’m not an idiot, Jared.  I wouldn’t jeopardize you like that.”  Biting her lower lip, Meg suddenly looked worried.  “Speaking of… be careful tomorrow.  And, if you have to, leave.  I know you wanna take care of mom and me, but that doesn’t mean you should have to do things you don’t want to.”

 

Jared knew exactly what his sister was talking about.  It sickened him to know that she had to worry about that—he should be able to go to work and not have to worry about getting harassed.  She should be able to go to school and not have to worry that she might not be able to the next day.

 

Trying to ease the worry on her face, he ruffled her hair and smiled.  “I’ll keep it in mind.”  He pulled her into a quick hug and then held still as she kissed his cheek.  “Sleep tight.”

 

“You too,” she said, and disappeared into her bedroom. 

 

Jared looked back at the room in front of him and Meg’s pile of schoolbooks on the counter instantly caught his eye.  If it came down to it, he wasn’t sure he could let her down like that.  Hopefully, it wouldn’t.

 

 

*

 

 

Void was the eastern-most district in Dallas.  Thunder—the district which housed the DKPD—was the western-most district.  It was a long ride on the public bus, especially since the bus had to stop at every waystation so everyone's licenses to visit or work in other districts could be checked. 

 

When Jared got up, the sun hadn’t even peeked over the horizon.  It was still cool out, even though it would be blazing later, and Jared was glad for the regulated temperature of the buses.  He dozed on the bus as it drove through Void.

 

In the next district, Wind, there was a startling amount of activity.  Jared frowned as he watched some teenagers hustling about just outside university grounds.  “What’s going on?” He called up to the bus driver.

 

The driver shrugged.  “Damned if I know.”  He kept his eyes on the road, not even looking as they exited the square.  “People have been really stirred up, though.”

 

“What about?” Jared questioned.  People—especially ‘foxes—being “stirred up” meant nothing good.

 

The driver scratched his head.  “Well, I guess it’d be about that new supervisor Void’s got.  Some university kids have been spreading the word about him being into some weird sort of things.  People are getting all fired up.”

 

Fuck.  Meg had _better_ not be among those university kids.  For once, Jared wished he had a cellphone so he could call and warn her again to _stay out of it_.  Their family did _not_ need to come further under the tails’ attention.

 

He continued worrying about it for the remainder of the bus ride.  He was only pulled back to reality when the bus stopped in Fire.  The driver looked at him questioningly when he didn’t get off.  “Ain’t you gonna get off?  This is your normal stop.”

 

“New employment,” Jared said, his lips twisting.  “I’m heading to Thunder.”

 

The driver raised his eyebrows and his expression suddenly became a lot less friendly.  “Working for the kitsunes, are you?” He asked, trying to appear neutral, but Jared could see through him.

 

“Not because I want to,” Jared told him and turned his face back to the window.  The driver grunted and left Jared to his musing as he continued to drive.

 

Jared hadn’t been in any of the kitsune districts since he was sixteen.  His high school had had some exchange program with a kitsune high school in Forest, which was supposed to promote inner-species tolerance or something.  It hadn’t worked one bit.  The kitsunes had terrorized the ‘foxes until Jared had put his foot down.  _That_ had made things interesting.

 

That said, Jared had only been in Thunder District briefly before.  He was struck instantly by how different the kitsune district was from even the nicer ‘fox districts.  Everything seemed somehow more suburban, less city-like.  A few men were bustling about, presumably headed to work, but there were plenty of people simply strolling or enjoying a leisurely breakfast before they had to go to their simple nine-to-five desk job.  The bus drove by a park, where children played while their mothers chatted.

 

Most women in Void—and many of the other ‘fox districts—worked.  It could be difficult for a man to hold down a steady position because some jobs were restricted to ‘tsunes.  A werefox could not become a doctor.  A werefox could not hold a government position.  They had their own police, their own fire stations, and their own schools, but they had no hospitals.  They didn’t have a newspaper either; papers were run by kitsunes.  The news station was run by kitsunes.  The most affluent businesses were kitsune-run and most ‘foxes could only work as grunts.  Even then, if a kitsune came along and wanted the job, they were likely to get the boot.

 

When the bus came to a stop and Jared hopped off, no one looked at him with any suspicion.  His cuff was partially masked by the sleeve of his black leather jacket and, since it was impolite to scent people in public, no one seemed to realize that he wasn’t one of them.  When Jared accidentally locked eyes with a young mother walking along with her children, she smiled and nodded.  Unused to such gestures, Jared nodded back before hurrying along.

 

The headquarters for the DKPD was a tall brick building.  Jared stared at it for a minute, then spotted a public phonebox just outside.  With a sigh, he ducked into the booth and dialed the number he knew by heart.

 

Meg was always quick to pick up, and this time was no exception.  “Yes?” She answered, and there was an annoyed tinge to her voice.  Jared felt a bit offended for a moment before he realized that she had no idea who was calling.

 

He cleared his throat.  “Meg,” he said.

 

He got no further.  “Oh, Jared!” Meg chirped, and there was a crackle as she shifted the phone around on her end.  “Are you having first day nerves?  Want me to reassure you?”

 

Huffing, Jared shook his head even though she couldn’t see him.  “Hardly.”  He paused, then sighed.  “I saw the student protesters this morning.”

 

“And you want to warn me not to get involved.”  Annoyance seeped back into Meg’s voice.  “I know, Jared, you’ve told me a _thousand_ times before.  I’m getting a bit tired of hearing it.”

 

Grinding his teeth, Jared tightened his grip on the payphone.  “Look, Meg, I just don’t want you to do anything stupid—”

 

“Glad to know you think standing up for what you believe in is stupid!” Meg snapped and Jared thought she would hang up on him for a moment.  Instead, she took a deep breath and said, “I’m not going to do anything that would put us in danger.”

 

That wasn’t a guarantee she wouldn’t protest and they both knew it.  “Meg…” Jared said warningly, watching as two kitsune officers in uniform came out of the station.

 

“Oh, listen to that, that’s the bell for first class!” Meg said in a falsely cheery voice.  “I’d better go!  Have fun at work!”

 

“Meg!” Jared protested, but she’d already hung up.  Irritated, he slammed the phone back down and stalked out of the phone-booth.  No one looked at him as he made his way into the DKPD station.

 

The sign next to the elevator said that the homicide department was on the fifth floor.  It also said that werefoxes weren’t allowed in the elevator unless they were being brought in by a police officer.  That was fine.  Jared preferred the stairs anyway.

 

He got some odd looks when he exited the stairs and strode into the department, but he didn’t pause.  Instead, he strode right to the Chief of Police’s office, which he identified by the largely emblazoned gold sign on the door, and rapped three times on the door.

 

An older man opened the door and looked Jared over forebodingly.  His brown eyes lingered on where his cuff was partially obscured.  With a roll of his eyes, Jared brought his arm around in front of him.  The movement pulled the sleeve back and displayed the black and white pattern of his cuff.  When the man met his eyes again, Jared raised an eyebrow.  “I’m Jared Padalecki.  I was told you wanted a consultant?”

 

The man—who had to be the Chief, Mitch Pileggi—stared at him for one more moment.  “Massee didn’t say you were so tall,” he grumbled, and then walked back into his office, the door open behind him.  Jared knew an unspoken order when he saw one, so he followed.

 

Pileggi seated himself at his desk as Jared took in the differences between this office and Jeff’s.  His own chief’s room had been small, barely eight by eight feet. This office was expansive, with high ceilings and a wooden floor that actually shown a bit.  His desk was broad and clearly made of real wood.  There was even a window behind him.

 

“Padalecki,” Pileggi said, drawing Jared away from his observations.  The chief wasn’t looking at him, nor had he indicated that Jared should sit down.  Instead, he was perusing a file.  Jared gritted his teeth and looked at the cuff on the chief’s wrist.  Earth kitsune, six tails.  Damn.  “You have a fairly impressive record over at the DPDFU, even given your… genetics.”

 

“Thank you, sir,” Jared ground out, but Pileggi didn’t seem to notice his irritation.

 

“Obviously, you can imagine how reluctant I was to bring a werefox into the mix here when the idea was initially brought up,” Pileggi continued, licking his thumb and turning a page.  He was looking at Jared’s record, Jared realized.  He felt even more like merchandise than he had the day before.  “Given their mental and physical limits, I thought it wouldn’t do much good.  When I found out they had a shinai on the force, I changed my mind.”  For the first time, Pileggi looked up at him.  His gaze was just as steady and neutral as his voice.  “While you can never reach the level of the kitsunes within this department, there is potential within you, I think.  Here, we can nurture that and hopefully you will find yourself fulfilled aiding the members of my force.”

 

It wasn’t the first time Jared had heard allusions that werefoxes were genetically inferior.  In fact, it was a common claim.  Not only did ‘foxes not have magic, but they could turn into _animals_.  For the kitsunes, this seemed to mean that they were less than people, that nature had decided they were _less than_.  The kitsunes used the methodology to justify their reign, as well as the—sometimes forceful—segregation of ‘foxes.

 

When Jared didn’t reply, Pileggi raised an eyebrow.  “Not a talker?” He joked, and there was something dark and lecherous in his gaze.  “I like that in a shinai.”

 

Those words made Jared do something incredibly stupid.  Bristling, he blurted out, “I was just wondering when you were going to stop monologuing about how great you are so I can go out there and do my job.”

 

Instantly, Pileggi’s expression turned surly.  “Watch it, ‘fox,” he snapped.  “Don’t forget—I’m the one in charge of your employment.  The instant I decide you aren’t necessary, you’re gone.  And you won’t be able to even _think_ about getting a job elsewhere either.”  His eyes ran down the length of Jared’s body and he sneered.  “Unless you’re fond of the whorehouses.”

 

Jared bit down on his tongue until it bled.

 

“Much better,” Pileggi purred as he leaned back in his high-backed chair.  Jared could barely keep from punching the smug look off his face.  “Now, you’ll obey my detectives.  They all have right to _use_ you—” and his smile said he knew the innuendo he was making “—and you need to satisfy them all.  Do you understand?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Jared spat out and tasted copper.

 

Pileggi snorted, then waved his hand dismissively.  “Go on, then.  Get to work.  I don’t have time to babysit little shinai.”  He turned back to his paperwork, the discussion—if it could be called that—clearly over.

 

Jared was anything but little, but they both knew that.  Jared turned on his heel and stormed out of the office, more than a bit relieved to get out of the man’s company.

 

It was easy to see who the detectives were.  There seemed to be about eight of them, and they were clustered around the coffee machine, chatting as they began their work for the day.  By Jared’s count, there were three women and five men.  He hung back, knowing better than to approach them.  It was only when the group broke apart that Jared caught sight of a familiar head of blond hair.

 

Chad did a double-take when he saw him, and then his face split into a wide smile.  “Jared, my man!”  Without any hesitation, he slung an arm around Jared’s shoulder, pulling him into a rough hug.  Jared was smiling slightly when he moved backwards after being released.  “What are you doing here?”

 

“Guess someone thought that someone with brains should come in and do your job,” Jared said casually, and ignored a couple of onlookers gasping; they’d probably caught sight of his cuff or didn’t like the way he talked to Chad or something.  Shrugging, Jared continued, “I’m the new werefox consultant.”

 

“Really?”  If possible, Chad looked even happier.  “That’s awesome, dude!  Especially because you’re mainly going to be assigned to me and Aldis, from what I’ve heard.  Oh!”  Chad tugged a tall, dark-skinned man over, who looked skeptically at Jared.  “This is my partner, Aldis.  Aldis, this is my old friend Jared.  He’s our new ‘fox consultant.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Jared,” Aldis said politely, but he didn’t hold his hand out of Jared to shake.  In fact, he didn’t look at Jared for more than a moment before looking back at Chad.  “How exactly do you two know each other?”

 

The question was clearly meant for Chad, and Chad didn’t hesitate to answer it.  “Our high schools had some weird exchange-tolerance thing going on.  Of course, it didn’t work for shit, but that’s where I met Jared.  He beat the shit out of some ‘tsunes that were trying to pick on him.”

 

Aldis’ eyebrows went up and he glanced at Jared once more, warily this time.  “He beat kitsunes?”

 

“Yeah.”  Chad flashed a smile over at Jared.  “Jared’s hardcore.”

 

“More than you are, that’s for sure,” Jared replied, and got socked in the arm for his trouble.  Chad was still grinning, though.

 

He’d thought he’d been screwed when he found out Chad at been watching him beat up those kitsunes back in high school.  Instead, the blond boy had smiled and high-fived him.  “They were brats anyway,” Chad had said and then invited Jared out to lunch.  Despite his better judgment, Jared had gone.  They’d been friends ever since.

 

Of course, they’d fallen out of contact when Jared had started the police academy.  His hours were just too intense to allow him to maintain any friendship with someone who wasn’t at work or centrally located in Void.  While Chad would head into Void sometimes to hang out with him, Jared had never liked when he did that.  The ‘foxes in Void didn’t need to see him hanging out with a kitsune.

 

Chad was a Lightning kitsune, which meant he was more powerful than the Basic kitsune types.  Basic kitsunes were comprised of Fire kitsunes, River kitsunes, Earth kitsunes, and Wind kitsunes.  Lightning kitsunes were an “original” type, the only one left.  According to the textbooks Jared had read, that meant that they had more base power than a Basic-typed kitsune.

 

Chad had tried to explain it to him once.  From what he’d gathered, Lightning-based powers required more base power to control them, so therefore Lightning kitsunes were born with more.  Chad himself was essentially as powerful as a six-tailed Basic kitsune, despite having less tails himself.

 

Then there were Void and Heaven kitsunes, or High kitsunes, whose powers required even more base energy than Lightning’s did.  Chad had explained, with a shudder, that a two-tailed Void kitsune could go head-to-head with him.  Luckily, High-type kitsunes were dying out due to interbreeding, so Jared didn’t have to worry too much about them.

 

Considering his powers, Jared was relieved to see Chad was on the force.  With Chad around, he wouldn’t need to watch his back at all; even though they’d only talked sporadically in the past years, he knew Chad would look out for him. 

 

He watched with amusement as Chad recounted the fight, exaggerating pretty much everything as he did so.  This wasn’t going to win Jared any points with the ‘tsunes in the department, but hopefully it would at least get him a bit of respect.  Or—he thought wryly, looking at one of the female detectives, whose lip was curled up in distaste—maybe not.

*

Eventually, Chad stopped rambling long enough to introduce the other homicide detectives.  Most of them were fairly polite and professional.  None of them seemed that pleased, but Jared didn’t think he’d have any trouble with them.  At least for a while.

 

Other than Chad and Aldis, there were three other pairs: Milo Ventimiglia and Lauren Cohan, Chris Kane and Steve Carlson, and Alaina Huffman and Katie Cassidy.  None of them offered to shake Jared’s hand, and after being introduced, they merely nodded before going back to talking to one another.  Other than Chad, Jared was pretty sure none of the rest thought he could pull his weight.  He was torn between wanting to prove himself and knowing he should keep as low a profile as he could.

 

Chad took Jared back to his desk afterwards, pulling up a chair.  “We don’t have a case right now, so the next one’ll be on us.  And knowing how these sorts of things go, we’ll probably need you.”

 

Chad’s casual assumption that a werefox would definitely be involved in a murder case made Jared want to smack him, but Chad was his only friend in the department and he was didn’t want to alienate him.  Instead, he said casually, “I never thought you’d get involved with the police.”  As far as he knew, being a homicide detective wasn’t considered an elite job for kitsunes.  Occasionally, a mayor was elected that had worked as Chief of Police, but the position hardly guaranteed a win.  With his family name, Chad could have done better.

 

Shrugging, Chad twirled a pen between his fingers.  “I kinda fucked around for a year or two after high school, as you know, but then my mom told me I needed to actually _do_ something.  And she wanted me to take some dumb office job, but I thought about you and how you’d gone into the police and was like, ‘huh, that’d be kind of cool.’  So.”  He winked at Jared.  “Guess you could say I followed in your footsteps, Yoda.”

 

“That reference doesn’t even work,” Jared told him, but he was smiling.

 

Chad smiled back, but then his expression turned more serious.  He glanced around the room.  Most of the other detectives were busy, but it didn’t surprise Jared when Chad lowered his voice to ask, “What are you doing here, Jared?  I thought you said you’d never work for us tails?”

 

Pursing his lips, Jared shrugged.  He looked down at his hands as he tried to keep calm.  “They threatened to blacklist me,” he muttered in reply.  “I didn’t have much choice.  I’ve still gotta take care of Meg and my mom.”

 

“Fuck,” Chad cursed, leaning back in his chair.  He eyed Jared for a moment, then sighed.  “Look, I know we’ve already talked about this, but… the option’s still open, you know.  If it comes down to it.”

 

“That’s not going to happen, Chad,” Jared said harshly.  All relaxation had left his body.  He wanted to get out of the chair and the room as fast as possible.

 

“I’m just letting you know,” Chad insisted.  “If something happens and they _do_ blacklist you… I haven’t changed my mind.”

 

Jared shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  He wanted to brush by it again, but he knew Chad wouldn’t let it go until Jared had acknowledged it.  Jerkily, he nodded his head.  “Thanks for letting me know,” he muttered and hurriedly changed the subject.

 

Back when they were eighteen, Chad had offered to make Jared his jirai.  He’d been completely earnest and open about it.  He’d said that he knew how much Jared wanted to take care of his family and that he could help and make sure no one else could ever touch Jared, his mother, or his sister.  It was the best offer Jared had ever gotten.  For a moment, he’d even been tempted.  Even though he wasn’t attracted to Chad, he knew Chad would take care of him and his.  He’d be able to get out of Void once and for all, live without concerns.

 

Yeah, for a moment he’d considered it, and then he’d remembered that he wasn’t _anyone’s_ , that being Chad’s jirai meant being owned by a _kitsune_.  Jared’s pride would never have stood for it.  No matter how kind Chad was, Jared was pretty sure he would have gone crazy within months.

 

He’d said no and Chad had never mentioned it again.  Still, it wasn’t too long before he started the police academy and he’d been almost relieved to see Chad less. 

 

It wasn’t something he wanted hovering over him at work, either way.  As he watched Chad chatter away, he hoped Chad wouldn’t bring it up again.  He might have been tempted once, but he wouldn’t be again.

 

He jumped in his chair when a door slammed open.  The entire department reacted, all twisting around to look over at the chief’s office.  Pileggi was standing in the doorway, his face red with rage.  “Hodge!  Murray!  You’ve got a new case and you _better_ not fuck it up!”

 

“What is it, sir?” Aldis asked, already standing at attention, poised and ready to act.

 

Pileggi’s eyes were dark as he looked over them.  They lingered on Jared for a long moment and Jared defiantly met his gaze as the Chief said, “the new supervisor of Void.  He’s been murdered.”  Pileggi was still looking at Jared.  “Looks like gang activity.  I guess our new ‘fox gets to go out on his first walk.”

 

 

*****

 

 

Jared sat in the backseat of the police car.  Aldis was driving and Chad was in the passenger’s seat.  They were speeding through the streets as they drove through Heaven District, where Gauthier’s mansion was located.  Jared didn’t look around, even though he’d never been in Heaven before.  He merely looked at his hands in his lap.

 

He’d been hoping for an easy day.  All he’d wanted was to just get by.  He’d have put up with the sneering and the jeering as long as it had been _easy_.  But no, the new supervisor of his district had been murdered and now _he_ was on the case.  It all meant nothing good.

 

The kitsunes would be out for blood with this one.  Not only was Gauthier part of one of Dallas’s oldest families, but he was also a _supervisor_.  Kitsunes in positions of power were supposed to be untouchable.  No one had _ever_ killed a supervisor before, as far as Jared knew.  This meant trouble for the ‘fox districts, but _especially_ Void.

 

They’d want to pin it on the gangs or the brothels, and maybe they _were_ involved; Jared didn’t know.  But if Gauthier’s threats to increase security in Void had been bad, what would happen after this would be even worse.

 

Jared needed to warn the other Void ‘foxes.  He’d have to go to Sam’s that evening, even though he’d been meaning to stay away until things had settled down.  Everyone needed to know, because even if one of them _was_ guilty, it was the rest that would really suffer for it.  The tails would be breathing down their necks after this one.

 

“You’re quiet back there, Jared.”  Chad’s eyes met his in the rearview mirror.  “I guess this isn’t good for you guys.  I know Gauthier was planning on making things better in Void.”

 

Chad had entirely the wrong idea, but it was the idea Jared needed to preserve around the kitsunes.  “Yeah,” Jared said tonelessly.  “It’s just kind of crazy.  That he could be dead.  I saw him on TV just yesterday.”

 

“I heard he said some pretty interesting stuff.”  Aldis’s voice wasn’t nearly as open as Chad’s.  In fact, Jared was pretty sure Aldis was probing, trying to ease information out of Jared without Jared noticing.  Aldis was _really_ underestimating him.

 

Jared nodded.  “Yeah, I mean, he was talking a lot about how he was going to crack down on crime and stuff.”  He didn’t add any more details.  Aldis would have to ask for them.

 

The detective didn’t disappoint.  “How were people feeling about that?  I mean, they were happy, weren’t they?”

 

Jared shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I was gone most of the day and I spent the rest in my house with my little sister.  We watched and then went to bed.”  It was the truth.

 

“How’d your sister feel?”

 

“Same as I did.”  In other words, outraged and horrified, but _that_ was definitely none of Aldis’s business.

 

Chad was messing around with his phone while they spoke.  Suddenly, he let out a low whistle.  “Someone leaked the news.  I guess there were some university kids protesting against Gauthier’s speech—although fuck knows why—and they’re now dancing in the streets.  They’re _celebrating_.”  He shook his head, looking disgusted.  “I can’t believe them.  Don’t they get that he was just trying to _help_?”

 

“Did you watch the speech?” Jared cut in neutrally, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

Chad snorted.  “Uh, no.  I was watching the Simpsons, man.  _Way_ more important.”

 

“Uh-huh.”  Jared looked out the window and watched as white house after white house flashed by.  “Look, I’m just saying that maybe you shouldn’t judge without having listened to him.  Maybe they were scared by the stuff he said or something.”  Scared and a lot of other things, that was for sure.  Although he thought the repercussions wouldn’t be worth it, Jared was kind of glad Gauthier was dead.

 

“I watched it,” Aldis said, voice steady and calm.  “And they shouldn’t have had anything to fear if they were law-abiding citizens.”  His gaze flickered up to where Jared was in the rearview mirror.  “The DPDFU needs to spend more time policing those people.  They’re getting out of hand.”

 

Jared was tempted to bite into his tongue again.  Or hit someone.  “I think the DPDFU is doing the best they can,” he said roughly.  “Especially since they’re underfunded and understaffed.”  Really, he and Charles had done the work of four cops, Jeff had often said.  Jared had been pretty proud of that.  Now he was a useless, pretty toy for the ‘tsunes to drag around.

 

They pulled into a long driveway.  Jared didn’t even wait until the car was fully stopped before hopping out.  He needed to walk off his anger a bit, or at least get out of the confined space with the two kitsunes.  He clenched and unclenched his hands by his side and let out a deep breath.  He just needed to focus and do his job.  He couldn’t afford to dwell on things he couldn’t do anything about.

 

Chad and Aldis caught up to him quickly and took the lead as they walked into the house.  Other, lower-ranking DKPD officers were already marking out the crime scene and taking pictures.  The body had been found in the ballroom, positioned right under a giant crystal chandelier.

 

“Damn,” Chad muttered as they moved to stand by the body.  Gauthier’s corpse was seated in a chair, completely rigid even though he was quite clearly dead.  There were four wide gashes across his throat that looked as if they had been made by fox claws.

 

Chad sighed.  “What did I tell you, man,” he said, nudging Jared.  “Fucking ‘foxes.  No offense.”

 

Offense taken, Jared thought, but didn’t say anything.  Instead, he knelt in front of the corpse and took in a deep breath.  And then another.  He frowned.  “Something’s not right,” he told Chad.

 

Behind him, Aldis scoffed.  “Look, kid, it’s a ‘fox, that’s pretty clear.  Now we need to figure out which of the fuckers did it—”

 

“No,” Jared said, without masking the irritation in his voice.  “That wasn’t what I meant.  I _meant_ that there’s no scent.  I was trying to catch the ‘fox’s scent, see if I’d smelled ‘em before.  But there’s nothing.  You can’t even smell the body.”  He shook his head.  “There’s never _not_ a scent.  So there’s something wrong.”

 

There were a few moments of silence, as if Jared had shocked them speechless, then Aldis cleared his throat and audibly breathed in.  Although kitsune noses weren’t _quite_ as sensitive, Jared knew he would notice the same absence of smell Jared had.  Sure enough, seconds later Aldis said, clearly surprised, “kid’s right.”

 

Chad crouched beside Jared, frowning.  “Do you know of any ‘fox recipes or anything that can help mask scent?”

 

Shaking his head again, Jared answered firmly, “no, there’s nothing of the kind.  I’ve been working for the DPDFU for the past seven years and I’ve _never_ seen anything like this.  We almost always use smell to help identify the culprit.  If there had been such a recipe or plant or whatever, we would have seen it by now.”  Scratching his nose, because the absence of scent was irritating it, he asked, “can you guys check for magic?”

 

“We check first thing when we come in,” Chad told him.  “We didn’t feel anything.”

 

“And how thorough a job did you do?” Jared asked, eyebrows raised.  “Maybe you should check again.”

 

Chad glared at him for a moment, then huffed and complied.  Aldis appeared to be communing with his magic as well on the other side of Jared, and it was Aldis’s eyes who popped open in surprise first.  “Yeah, there’s definitely something magical,” he said, sounding faintly dazed.  “It’s so subtle I almost missed it the first time.  Whoever cast the spell is definitely pretty powerful.”

 

“So,” Jared said, dragging out the O-sound, “we’re looking at a duo, you think?  Werefox and kitsune, working together?”

 

Aldis and Chad looked at each other.  “I don’t know what else it could be,” Aldis said slowly, and he looked at Jared with renewed interest.  “I find it hard to believe, but there’s really no other way.”

 

“Unless the kitsune decided to mimic a werefox killing,” Jared suggested, gesturing to the claw marks.  “I’m sure there are other ways to make those marks.  Maybe you should have people test to see if there’s been DNA left or something.”

 

“That’s a good suggestion,” Aldis said, and Jared thought to himself that, at some point, the man was going to have to stop sounding so shocked when Jared acted like he had a brain in his head. 

 

Aldis spared one last glance for Jared before he was hustling over some of the analysts to look at things.  Chad pulled Jared away from the body.  Jared looked at him and was surprised to find his normally happy-go-lucky friend was still frowning.  Jared nudged him gently.  “Hey, man, what do you think?”  When Chad looked confused, Jared tilted his head toward the crime scene.  “Any other ideas?”

 

Chad smiled at him, but it looked all wrong.  “Nah, man.  I think you got it all covered.”  He laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.  “I think I’m a little off my game this morning, that’s all.  I should have noticed that magic.”

 

Jared patted his friend on the back.  “Dude, Aldis said it was hard to detect or something.”  Jared didn’t really _get_ magic, but he was pretty sure Chad shouldn’t be so banged up about missing something that was supposedly pretty hard to see in the first place.  “You’ll catch the next one, I’m sure.”

 

With some amusement, Chad looked over at Jared.  “Dude.  Hopefully there _isn’t_ a next one.”

 

Jared looked over at Gauthier’s body.  Somehow, he didn’t feel quite so optimistic.

 

 

*

 

 

The mood back at the station was tense.  As soon as Aldis, Chad, and Jared exited the elevator—because Chad had told him to “fuck the sign and just get in”—all eyes turned to them.  The door to Pileggi’s office was open, and Massee and others were clustered about.  There were murmurs about dealing with the press, how to handle things, something about a _him_ —

 

One of the other detectives, Chris Kane, strode up to them.  “So what’s the scoop?” He asked Aldis, his hands jammed in his pockets.  “You get lucky and find a suspect?”

 

Aldis rolled his eyes.  “We’ve only been on the case an hour or two, Kane.  Kinda hard to have a good solid suspect within that timeframe.  That said…”  Crossing his arms over his chest, Aldis smiled smugly.  “We’ve got some pretty good criteria.  And we might have DNA.”

 

“What’s this?” Pileggi barked out.  He’d finally noticed that they’d returned, apparently, and he was making his way over to join them.  “Report, Hodge.”

 

Instantly, Aldis snapped to attention.  “Yes, sir.”  He took in a breath.  “The victim was found with his throat slashed open.  It appeared to be the work of werefox claws, but we’re having the crime scene analysts look for DNA evidence of that—”

 

Pileggi snorted.  “Why would you need DNA?  Seems pretty clear-cut to me.”

 

Aldis glanced back at Jared and Jared sighed before elbowing forward.  “First, DNA would be helpful to have in order to identify the murder.  And second, there was evidence of a kitsune’s involvement.  It could be that the kitsune merely imitated a ‘fox’s style of killing.”

 

Pileggi raised his eyebrows, but before he could speak, Aldis cut in.  “What Jared says is true, sir.  There was very subtle magic at the scene, meant to mask the scent of the perpetrator.  We currently believe that a werefox and kitsune may have worked together to commit these crimes.”

 

“Then why didn’t _you_ say that, instead of having the ‘fox do so?” Pileggi griped, shooting a glare at Aldis.

 

The detective frowned, almost as if he thought there was something _wrong_ with the way Pileggi was speaking to Jared.  “Jared was instrumental at the scene, sir.  He suggested several things that we might not have thought of.   He was the one that noticed the lack of scent and the one that suggested a kitsune might be imitating a werefox.”  Aldis paused, looking back at Jared once more.  “I thought he deserved a chance to share his theories.”

 

The chief snorted, seemingly dismissing everything Aldis had said.  “While I’m glad hiring him wasn’t a complete waste of our resources, next time I want the full report from someone who is actually an _officer_ , not some ‘fox consultant.”

 

There was that same look of shock on Aldis’s face, like he hadn’t imagined that the chief would treat Jared that way.  Beside him, Chad was glaring fiercely, but thankfully, he was keeping his mouth shut.  While it was good that Chad wasn’t blurting out shit, Jared was mildly concerned that he was still upset about what he’d missed at the crime scene.  Jared moved forward to brush their arms together, and Chad smiled at him gratefully.

 

“Anyhow,” Pileggi continued, turning to address the whole department.  “We’ve got a problem.  Because of the death of a supervisor, the General’s visit has been moved up.  He’s flying out tonight.”  Several people sucked in surprised breaths, including Chad.  Pileggi looked back at Chad and Aldis.  “He’ll be working with you, so I expect you to be on your best behavior.  And that includes keeping the werefox _quiet_.”  With that last barb, Pileggi swept back into his office, slamming the door behind him.

 

Everyone else immediately began chattering.  Jared elbowed Chad gently.  “Did he mean General like the new National Police Force General?”

 

“Yeah,” Chad groaned, running a hand through his spiky blond hair.  “Fuck, man.  This is gonna be intense.” 

 

Jared steered them back to Chad’s desk.  “So, what’s the big deal with this guy? Ackles, right?”  He’d talked with Pellegrino, Sheppard, and Justin about him too; they’d wanted info then and they’d _definitely_ want it now that the guy was coming to town.  “Is there something super special about him?”

 

Chad looked up at him like he was some kind of idiot.  “Dude, you don’t know who _Jensen Ackles_ is?”  When Jared shook his head, Chad laughed, and there was a faint note of hysteria in it.  “There’s a reason why he got appointed to be the new General, even though he’s only twenty-nine, you know.”  Chad leaned in conspiratorially.  “Dude’s crazy strong.  He’s an eight-tails.”

 

“Shit,” Jared cursed, leaning back in his chair.  The average number of tails for kitsunes was three to four; eight was nearly unheard of.  Even the president of their country, Misha Collins, only had five tails.  Of course, he was Void kitsune, so he was plenty strong.  Thinking about type, Jared asked, fearing the answer, “what type is Ackles?”

 

Chad looked him dead in the eyes.  “Heaven,” he said, and if Jared had been drinking something, he would have spat it out.  “They say he’s the most powerful kitsune in the world, you know.  And he’s coming _here_.”

 

Here indeed, to Dallas, where Jared had people to protect.  God, a kitsune of extraordinary power would be traipsing around Dallas looking for a killer.  Who knew what he could do?  He might walk into Void and just be able to see into peoples’ _minds_.  He might eliminate all the brothels, all the gangs.  He might wipe them all out, just for fun. 

 

_Shit_.

 

“Do you know anything else?” Jared asked, trying not to sound desperate.  “Like, what his personality is like or anything?”

 

Shrugging, Chad shook his head.  “I don’t know, man.  There are a lot of stories about the dude.  I’ve heard that he’s a total ass and I’ve also heard that he’s Prince Fucking Charming.”  He spread his arms wide.  “I’ve got no idea what the truth is.  But I know he’s got more magic than any of us would know what to do with.  So be careful around him, okay?”

 

It was almost surprising to see Chad looking at him with such concern.  Jared had been so worried about his family and the people back home that he’d forgotten that _he_ would be the one getting up-close and personal with Ackles every day.  _He_ was the one who would have to be cautious and make sure he didn’t let anything slip.  After all, Ackles could probably kill him with a snap of his fingers.

 

“Thanks, man,” Jared said, for lack of anything else to say.  “I’ll be on my best behavior.  And you don’t do anything stupid either, okay?”  When Chad opened his mouth to protest, Jared cut him off.  “Don’t front with me, dude.  You get into stupid shit all the time.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Chad said, rolling his eyes.  “Whatever, man.”

 

“If you two are done…”  Aldis stood in front of him, looking a bit amused.  “We just got the results back from the lab.  There was DNA.”  He held out a sheaf of papers.  Chad grabbed them, scanning them.  Jared looked over his shoulder.  “Definitely a werefox,” Aldis continued.  “I’m having them run the DNA through our system, see if we’ve had ‘em in before.”

 

Nodding absently, Jared said, “you should call the DPDFU up and see if you can run it through their database as well.  Obviously, a lot more ‘foxes come through there.”

 

This time, Aldis did not look nearly as shocked that Jared could actually do his job.  Instead, he looked faintly pleased.  “Yeah, that’s a smart idea.  Wanna call them up and ask?”

 

Jared stiffened a bit, but he nodded anyway.  “Yeah, sure.”  He grabbed the phone on Chad’s desk and dialed the number by heart. 

 

He only realized he had called his old desk and not the receptionist when Charles picked up.  “Hello, if you’re calling for Jared Padalecki—”

 

“Charles,” Jared cut him off.  “Hey, it’s me.”

 

“Jared.”  Charles sounded surprised.  “What’s up, kid?  Heard you had an interesting first day.”

 

Right, the news had been leaked.  Jared smiled wryly and said in a dry voice, “yeah, you could say that.”  He cleared his throat.  “Look, I need to ask a favor of the chief.  We’ve got some ‘fox DNA over here and we were hoping we could run it through the DPDFU’s database, see if we can find a match.”

 

“I don’t think the chief’ll have a problem,” Charles said.  “Not that he could have one even if he wanted to.”  There was some shuffling on the other end of the line and then Charles said, “I’ll transfer you over to the chief, but, look, I’ll stay late tonight and help with the system.  God knows you never got a handle on it.”

 

Jared scowled, even though Charles couldn’t see him.  “I got it fine!” He protested, but didn’t try to talk Charles out of it.  Mostly because Charles had already transferred him.  “Ass,” Jared muttered under his breath.

 

“What was that?” Came a voice from the other end.  Jared blushed as he realized Jeff had heard him.  “Jared, did you say something?”

 

“Uh, no, sir,” Jared responded, fiddling with the phone cord.  “I was just wondering if I could come by the station tonight and run some DNA through your database?”

 

There was silence for a moment and then a sigh crackled down the line.  “I suppose this has to do with the Gauthier murder?”

 

“I’m not at liberty to say, sir,” Jared answered stiffly.  It was hard not to be open and honest with his chief.  “Charles has said he’ll stay late to help me—”

 

“I’m not saying no,” Jeff interrupted him.  “It’s perfectly fine with me, as long as Charles is there to make sure you don’t break the thing.”

 

“I’m really not that bad,” Jared grumbled, but he was smiling anyway.  “I’ll drop by on my way home, then.”

 

“Sure,” Jeff agreed and there was a pause.  Then, he said fondly, “take care, Jared.”

 

“You too.”  Hanging up, Jared looked up at Aldis.  “We’re set.  You’ll just need to get me the information so I can check it.”

 

Aldis winced.  “Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than that.  Only a detective can handle this information.”  He shifted his feet a bit.  “So I’ll be going with you.”

 

Jared thought about objecting, but in the end, he elected to just shake his head.  “Well, that’ll have to work, I guess.”  He twirled one of Chad’s pens between his fingers.  “You got a car?”

 

*

 

Turned out, Aldis did have a car.  It wasn’t an especially nice one, but it smelled good and ran smoothly.  Jared relaxed happily into the passenger seat, grateful he wasn’t confined to the back once more.  That had _not_ been good for his poor legs.

 

“So,” Aldis began, a few minutes into their drive.  Jared had been expected him to start talking sooner or later.  He’d had a feeling the man had something to say.  Luckily, Jared didn’t feel like it was anything bad.

 

When Aldis didn’t seem inclined to continue, Jared sighed.  “Let me guess.  You didn’t expect me to be like this.”

 

Aldis winced a bit as he nodded, keeping his eyes on the road.  It seemed deliberate; his eyes weren’t even flicking up to check the rearview mirror.  “I gotta say, I kinda thought you’d weigh us down at first.  Even after I met you.  But you really proved yourself today.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say that you were kitsune born and bred.”

 

Jared gritted his teeth.  “Piece of advice,” he said as calmly as he could, locking down his anger.  “I know you mean well, but I highly suggest you don’t _ever_ say that to a ‘fox again.  We’re proud to be what we are.”

 

“You wouldn’t want to be a kitsune?” Aldis asked doubtfully, and this time he did glance over at Jared from the corner of his eye.  “I mean, it just seems like—”

 

“I know what it seems like,” Jared interrupted him.  “You guys have easier lives, no shit, everyone knows that.  But I love my mom and my family and I even love the shitty little district I grew up in.  I wouldn’t be who I am if I _wasn’t_ ‘fox, and I’m proud to be that.”  He took a deep breath, then relented a little.  “I’m sure there are ‘foxes who would _love_ to be ‘tsunes.  But me and mine?  We’re not them.”

 

“Noted,” Aldis said, and Jared thought there was a bit of remorse in his voice.  “I don’t have much experience with ‘foxes.  I guess I made some assumptions.”

 

Maybe he was being too hard on the guy.  Jared forced himself to smile and said, “you and the rest of the world.”

 

“Guess I should be more careful what I assume then.” 

 

Jared was pretty sure that was as much of an apology as he was going to get.  He decided to take it and dared a joke.  “You know what they say about those who assume…”

 

Aldis laughed like it had been surprised out of him.  “That I do.  Goodness knows my wife has had to remind me often enough.”

 

Jared was more than happy to turn the conversation to Aldis’s wife.  The man chattered happily about her and their twin children, still infants yet.  One had five tails,  which had made them both proud.  Jared thought privately that kitsune parents should put less value on tails and more on teaching their children not to be assholes. 

 

But he couldn’t exactly _say_ that.

 

“What about you?” Aldis asked eventually.  “You got a wife?”

 

Jared couldn’t help snorting.  “Nah, man,” he said and looked out the window as they entered Fire District.  “I haven’t dated since high school.  Job’s kept me too busy for that.  Plus, I have enough on my hands taking care of my sister and mom.”

 

Aldis’s brow furrowed like he was confused.  “Your dad doesn’t do that?”

 

Jared looked over at him, shocked.  “You didn’t look at my cuff, did you?”  It was a rare thing.  Most peoples’ first reaction was to glance at the other’s cuff.  In fact, Jared already had all the detectives’ types and tail-numbers memorized.  Aldis was a River-type, with three tails.  Chris Kane was a four-tailed Earth-type.  He could keep going and going.  It was important to know who he was dealing with and the cuffs helped with that.

 

Glancing over at him, Aldis frowned.  “I did.  Black, for werefox.”

 

Looking down, Jared noticed the way his sleeve had gone back to covering the white part of his cuff.  No wonder he hadn’t gotten any ribald comments from anyone.  Sighing, Jared pushed back his sleeve to show Aldis.  One look and Aldis’s eyes widened to almost double their normal size.  “Yeah,” Jared said flatly.  “Not much going on on the dad front.”

 

He watched as the gears clicked in Aldis’s head and he put things together.  “So, your mom…”

 

“Had an interesting job,” Jared filled in smoothly when it was clear Aldis didn’t know how to finish his sentence politely.  “I made her quit as soon as I started working.”

 

“Is your sister also an…”  Aldis waved his hand toward Jared’s cuff.  “Because if so—”

 

“I don’t believe in the whole jirai thing,” Jared said bluntly.  “Especially not when ‘fox prostitutes are reviled, but jirai are treated like they’re doing some great thing.  It’s such a double-standard.”  From the look on Aldis’s face, he was veering on the edge of what the man was comfortable with.  He reeled himself back in.  “Anyhow, she’s not.  So it doesn’t matter.”

 

Aldis licked his lips.  “But it mattered for you, obviously.”  He laughed, a bit nervously.  “I guess that answers my question of why you became a police officer.”

 

“Good money, legally,” Jared agreed.  “It was an easy choice.”  He was more than a bit relieved to find that they had arrived at the DPDFU station.  Aldis parked smoothly right out front and Jared hopped out the second the car was parked.  “This way,” Jared said to Aldis, after the other man exited the car as well, and led him into the building.

 

He was in front, so he wasn’t able to see Aldis’s face as he took in the DPDFU station, but he knew that he would notice the shoddy construction, the little dings and dents that they’d never had the money to fix up.  Compared to the DKPD, the DPDFU building was little more than a hovel.

 

Jared wound his way down to the archives.  Charles was there, doing a crossword as he waited.  Jared grinned upon seeing him.  “Hey, man,” Jared said and Charles smiled up at him.  “Hope we haven’t kept you waiting too long.”

 

“Just finished my paperwork an hour ago.”  Charles looked pointedly over at Aldis.  “Jared?”

 

“Oh, this is Aldis Hodge, DKPD homicide detective,” Jared introduced him.  “And Aldis, this is Charles Whitfield, DPDFU homicide detective.  He’s my old partner.”

 

An odd look came over Aldis’s face and then he stuck his hand out, jaw set.  “Nice to meet you,” he said stiffly.

 

Charles raised his eyebrows at Jared, but he reached out and shook Aldis’s hand firmly.  Jared was more than a little shocked himself.  Normally, ‘tsunes were too good to shake hands with ‘foxes.  Just that morning, the detectives had declined to greet Jared with that much respect.  The fact that Aldis had extended his hand to Charles meant that some of what Jared had said in the car had actually gotten through to him.

 

“Well,” Charles said, breaking the awkwardness of the encounter, “we’d better run that DNA.”

 

Charles handled the machine, because, truthfully, Jared _had_ never really gotten the hang of it.  While they waited on the results, Jared and Charles chatted casually about their lives.  Soon enough, Aldis was drawn into their conversation.  Apparently, as a somewhat new father, Aldis had a lot of questions for the more-experienced Charles, and Charles wasn’t above giving some sage advice.  By the time the computer dinged and announced that there was no match, the two men were getting along swimmingly.

 

“Too bad,” Charles said when it was clear that whoever’s DNA it was wasn’t in their system.  “On the other hand, this does eliminate quite a few suspects.”

 

“Yeah,” Jared agreed.  “Could you print out a list for Aldis?  It’d be helpful to know who we can count out.”

 

“Sure thing,” Charles agreed, and he hustled over to the machine and pressed a few buttons.  When he came back with the papers, he nodded at Aldis.  “You call me if you have any other questions, alright?”

 

“Sound good,” Aldis said, and when the two men shook this time, it wasn’t nearly as awkward.

 

Seemingly sensing that Charles and Jared needed to talk alone, Aldis told Jared he’d wait outside by the car.  Once he was gone, Jared turned to Charles.  “The new General is coming in,” he told him seriously.  “I don’t know what that’s gonna mean for you guys, but don’t be surprised if there are changes.”

 

“Ackles is coming in?”  Charles raised his eyebrows and whistled.  “Damn.  Try to keep your head down, will you?  I don’t think that’s the sort of man you want to be interested in you.”

 

“Believe me, I mean to,” Jared assured him.  They exchanged quick goodbyes and then Jared jogged out to where Aldis was leaning against his car.  The people walking by were staring at at Aldis as they passed—kitsunes didn’t often visit the ‘fox districts except to get their dicks wet.  “You didn’t have to wait, you know,” Jared told him.

 

Aldis smiled and shrugged genially.  “I was thinking I could drive you home.”

 

Jared couldn’t help but wince at the thought.  “No offense, man, but I’ll pass.  People would just be freaked out.  Kitsunes never come through our district unless…” He trailed off.  The only time kitsunes visited Void was when they wanted to fuck.  “It’s a nice offer, but I think I should just take the bus.”

 

“I didn’t think of that.”  Aldis scratched the back of his head and nodded.  “Yeah, I guess you should.  Do you want a lift to the bus station, then?”

 

“Nah, it’s just around the corner.”  And it was due to arrive any moment.  “I’ll see you tomorrow for work, I guess.”

 

“Yeah.”  Aldis let out a deep breath.  “It’ll definitely be an interesting day.”

 

“That it will,” Jared agreed.  He could use a little _less_ interesting.

 

 

*

 

 

Jared didn’t go straight home, even though he itched to tell Meg all the news and make sure she was safe.  He was just hoping she hadn’t been in the midst of the students celebrating.  Hopefully, she was waiting for him at home, anxious to hear if he had any more information than she already had.

 

Instead, he walked in a different direction once he got off the bus in Void.  Even here, people were celebrating, clearly happy that the new supervisor had been eliminated.  He wondered if they’d be as happy if they knew all the awful things that were likely to come of it.

 

Things got distinctly less celebratory as he moved onto Brothel Block.  It was largely considered neutral ground, not only between the gangs, but also between werefoxes and kitsunes.  No one would want to offend a wealthy visiting kitsune by making light of a supervisor’s death.

 

Jared headed straight for the most elaborate building on the block.  Madame Sam was a cunning businesswoman, only two years older than Jared’s mother, and her brothel did better than those which had been around for generations.

 

Since his mother had worked there, Jared was familiar with the building.  They’d used to live in an apartment only a few blocks away.  Jared and Meg had both been raised around the brothels and some of the women and men were like aunts and uncles to them.  Or had been, before Jared had gone into the police and forced distance between them all.

 

As soon as Jared came in, Madame Sam was on him in a flurry of silk and perfume.  She liked to work the front desk, managing everything from a central position. It also allowed her to charm her guests, because she wasn’t averse to taking on a bit of the workload herself.

 

“Jared,” she cooed, voice dark and husky.  She tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and patted his cheek.  “I thought I might see you around, given recent events.  Have you reconsidered my job offer?”

 

Jared made a face and didn’t bother hiding it from her.  “Sorry, Sam.  That’s not going to happen and you know it.”

 

Sam laughed, throwing her head back and letting loose throaty chuckles.  “Well, an old maid can always hope, can’t she?”  She whisked him over to a velvet-covered couch and sat him down.  “But you must be here for some reason?  You never come just to visit anymore.”  She pouted, but there was a glimmer of humor in her eyes.

 

Sam was always over-the-top and was always putting on a show.  She was her persona most days, but he’d seen the real Sam, who wasn’t ladylike at all.  She would eschew her fancy clothes and wear leather and jeans instead, but she had a role to play and she played it well.  That said, she would go from the charmingly coquettish to fierce and savage in an instant if the situation called for it.  Jared had seen more than one kitsune run from her with their tails between their legs.

 

Jared looked into her kohl-lined eyes.  “Sorry about that,” he said.  It wasn’t insincere, but he wouldn’t change his mind.  “I’m here for some mutual friends.”

 

Given the way Sam’s face tightened, she knew what he was talking about.  “Ah, I see,” she said.  “We’d best talk in my office then.  Alona!” She called, and a pretty blonde girl emerged from one of the side halls.  “Mind the desk.  I have to talk to Jared.”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” the girl said, and put on a cheery smile just in time to deal with a customer who had just entered.

 

Sam’s office was the same mix of gaudy and chic that the rest of the house was.  Jared nearly snorted at the fringed lamp she’d added to her desk.  She smiled like she knew what he was thinking.  “It’s been a while since you’ve been in here,” she said.  “I remember back when you and Meg would come here after school and sit in here to do your homework.”  She winked at him.  “I also remember when a certain someone stopped coming because ‘the atmosphere’ wasn’t ‘conducive to learning’.”

 

Jared flushed.  At thirteen, he’d been a big bundle of hormones, and the moans he’d heard coming through the walls constantly had him on edge, especially because he wasn’t just interested in _one_ set of moans.  It had been _difficult_ to do homework with a hard-on.  “Yeah, well,” he said, a bit flustered, “it wasn’t!”

 

She laughed again, and patted his cheek before sweeping into her chair.  “Of course it wasn’t.  At least not for schoolwork.  I’m sure you learned about _plenty_ of other things though.”

 

“Most of which I would rather never have known in the first place,” he told her, sitting down opposite her.  He’d known way too much about all sorts of obscure kinks at thirteen.  The girls had taught him things too, like how to give a blow-job and how to finger himself.  He’d blushed through his lessons and tried to escape multiple times, but they’d insisted.  At first, Jared thought they only did it to embarrass him.  Later on, he realized that they’d all expected him to become a jirai and to _need_ the knowledge.  It was a bit sickening to realize they’d all looked at him as some sort of future coworker. 

 

Even his mother.

 

“But doubtless your partners would appreciate it, if you ever had any.”  Sam gave him a disappointed look.  “You’ve been entirely too celibate since Genevieve, my dear.”

 

“And you are entirely too interested in my sex life,” he retorted.  Really, it was almost always the first thing she brought up whenever they spoke.  He knew it was her _business_ to think about sex, but it certainly made things embarrassing for Jared.  “Besides, we have other things to discuss.”

 

Sam’s lips turned down at the reminder.  “Ah, yes.  Other things.”  She fixed sharp eyes on him.  “Do we need to be worried?  I heard about Gauthier’s death, but…”

 

“They’re bringing in a kitsune from the national government,” Jared told her bluntly.  “His name’s Jensen Ackles.  He’s an eight-tailed Heaven kitsune.”  When her eyes widened, he nodded.  “Yeah, we’ve got a lot to worry about.”

 

“Eight tails.”  She whistled.  “We ain’t had one of those in Dallas since I was just a little girl.  And if he’s Heaven-type…”  She shook her head in disbelief.  “You were right to bring this to me.  I’ll let the others know.”  She looked at him significantly, clearly indicating which _others_ she would tell.  “Anything else?”

 

“What, that isn’t enough?” Jared joked.  When she merely looked at him, he sighed and nodded.  “Yeah.  The Gauthier murder.  It looks like a werefox and kitsune were working together.”

 

Sam sat back in her chair.  “An interspecies alliance?  Are you sure?”

 

“Pretty positive.”  Jared leaned forward a bit.  “I’m having a hard time imagining any of our _friends_ partnering up, so I’ve got no idea who the perp is.”

 

“If you ask me—”

 

“Which I didn’t.”

 

“—you’d take a look at all those little radical friends of your sister’s.”  Jared froze as Sam clucked her tongue.  “Unlike you, that girl doesn’t know how to keep her head down.”

 

“That doesn’t exactly make sense either,” Jared said stiffly.  “They want out from under the kitsunes’ thumbs.  I don’t see one of them pairing up.”

 

Sam looked at him for a moment, then said soberly, “If people are desperate enough, my dear, they’ll do anything.”  She let that hang in the air for a moment, and then she seemed to transform back into the vapid brothel madame.  “Now, I think you’d better get going.  I can’t leave Alona to tend the desk for _too_ long.  All the johns will miss me.”  She paused by the door, looking back at him with a curvy smile.  “Unless you want to spend some time with one of my girls?  I’ll give you a discount.”

 

“I’ll pass,” Jared told her dryly.  He pressed a kiss to her cheek, even though it was covered with make-up.  “I’ll see you, Aunt Sam.”

 

“Take care, Jared,” she told him.  A lot of people had been telling him that lately.    Hopefully, all their well-wishes would form some kind of luck.  He could use some.

 

 

*

 

 

When Jared got home, he expected Meg to be sitting at the kitchen table, waiting eagerly to talk to him.  Instead, he found his mother, watching one of her soaps on the sofa.  Walking over, he kissed the top of her head.  “Hey, Mom.  Where’s Meg?”  He couldn’t hear the shower running, so she wasn’t in there.  Maybe she had gone to bed early.

 

Shelia turned her head up to smile at him.  “She called earlier and said she’d be in late.  Something about going celebrating with some people.”

 

Ice ran through Jared’s veins.  “Celebrating?” He gritted out.  His hand tightened on his mother’s shoulder.  “Did she tell you _what_ she was celebrating?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know.”  Shelia waved a hand.  “Now, now, don’t look so concerned.  Your sister’s a young lady now.  She had the right to go out and have fun without her older brother hanging around.”

 

“That’s not—” Jared broke off, rolling his eyes to the ceiling.  “There’s some stuff going on and I just want to make sure she doesn’t get caught up in it, that’s all.”

 

“You worry too much,” his mother told him, which was pretty much the opposite of what _everyone else_ had been telling him.  She patted the spot on the sofa beside her.  “Come, sit down with me.  I’ve felt so alone this evening.  I had to have dinner on my own since both you and Meg were out.”

 

Jared winced a bit and grimaced apologetically at his mother.  “Sorry, Mom.  You know how the job is.”  He barely ever made it for dinner, but Meg was normally much better about those sorts of things.

 

He sat on the sofa with his mother and stewed.  Meg, out _celebrating_.  It didn’t take much brain power to put things together.  He knew she’d hated Gauthier, but she _had_ to know that flaunting that dislike wasn’t smart.  Hadn’t she promised him just that morning that she wouldn’t do anything stupid?  He wondered how many other times she’d lied about things like that.  He’d been optimistic, thinking she wasn’t protesting and rallying just because she told him she wouldn’t do anything stupid.

 

Around ten, his mother got up off the couch, kissed his cheek, and said she was going to bed.  He listened to the rattle of her pill bottle; apparently she was medicating herself to sleep that night.  Normally, Jared would have gone to sleep as well.  Instead, he stayed up, waiting on his wayward sister.  As he waited, he got more and more furious.  Obviously, he’d been too nice about things with Meg.  He’d shielded her too much or something.  She had to see how _dangerous_ things were.  She was playing with fire and he wasn’t about to let her get burnt.

 

It was around midnight when she finally wandered it.  There was glitter on her face and she was stumbling a bit, obviously tipsy.  She fumbled with the light-switch and almost fell backwards when she turned the lights on and saw him sitting on the couch.  “Jared!” She exclaimed, voice happy and fond.  “Did you wait up for me?  You didn’t have to.”  She staggered over and wrapped her arms around him.  “Such a good big brother.”

 

Grabbing her by the shoulders, he pushed her back and seated her on the couch.  “Where were you tonight, Meg?” He asked lowly.

 

Apparently, she couldn’t hear the danger in his voice.  “Oh, you know, around.”  She waved a hand and giggled.  “Celebrating, you know.  ‘Cause _ding-dong the witch is dead_!”  She hiccuped as she giggled, and any other time, Jared would have gotten a kick out of her happy drunkenness.  He would have been snickering at her antics and would probably have snapped a few photos to embarrass her with.

 

Tonight was not any other time.

 

“You were out celebrating Gauthier’s death,” he said slowly, and she must have realized something was wrong because she stopped giggling and stared at him with a furrow between her brows.  “You decided that it was a _smart_ idea to go party with your friends and get drunk because a public official was murdered.  Even though you _had_ to know that they’d be looking for a werefox perp.  Even though you _know_ that they like to pin the blame on anyone that suits them.  Even though you _promised me_ you would be smart!”  With each sentence, his voice grew louder and louder.  By the last one, he was yelling.  “How the _fuck_ could you do that, Meg?”

 

Stumbling back to her feet, she frowned and pointed an accusing finger at him.  “You’re being paranoid.  You’re always so _paranoid_.  And scared.  So scared too.  You always act like I’m gonna get locked up at any moment but it’s not _like_ that.  I’m _smart._ You know that.  Why do you act like I’m _not_?”  She tossed her hair in a disgruntled huff.  “I’m not just gonna sit around.  I wanna _say_ something!”

 

“Let someone else say something!” Jared barked out, grabbing her by the shoulders and barely resisting the urge to shake her.  “God, Meg, it’s _dangerous_!  Do you know how many people in resistance movements get thrown in jail on trumped up charges?  ‘Cause I do!  I have to watch it happen and I can’t do anything about it and I’m _not_ going to let you be one of them—”

 

“You can’t make decisions for me!”  She was glaring at him now, probably two words away from punching him.  She jerked backwards, out of his hold, and snarled, “you may be my big brother, but you _aren’t_ my dad!  If I wanna stand up for what I believe in, I’m not going to let _you_ stop me!”

 

Jared’s lip curled up over his teeth.  He could feel himself shifting a bit, his eyes going a bright amber and his incisors lengthening.  “You won’t, will you?” He growled, pacing towards her.  “You’re just gonna go out and do whatever you want, regardless of the fact that it’s _gonna get you killed_!”  He jabbed his hand at the window, pointing out at the street.  “Tomorrow morning, an _eight-tailed Heaven kitsune_ is going to be flying into Dallas to deal with the Gauthier murder, but no, that doesn’t matter to you.  No, you’re so obsessed with _saying something_ that you don’t realize that _no one will hear you in motherfucking jail_!”

 

“And _this_ is why you are a coward!” Meg screamed.  She lurched forward, getting right in his face.  “It’s always something—it’s your job, or some case, or _the god-damn bus driver_ for all I know!  But there’s always _something_ that makes you think I can’t _do_ things.  But I don’t care!  I don’t care if a fucking _nine-tails_ flies into Dallas tomorrow.  I’m gonna stand for my rights because I _respect_ myself.  Do you?”  With one last liquid glare, she stormed around him and into her room.

 

Jared stood there for a moment, stung.  She knew that he felt resistance movements were too radical and tried to move too fast.  She knew that he did what little he could do to make things right, that he believed that if everyone did so, eventually there’d be change.  She knew that he thought that there would come a time for big speeches and rallies, but that it wasn’t yet.  She knew all those things.  How could she even _begin_ to say—

 

He was still standing there when she shuffled back out of her room, head down.  She stood awkwardly across from him and she fiddled with the waist of her pants.  “Look, I’m sorry.  I know you respect yourself.  I know that you don’t believe in the way I want to do things.”  She looked up at him, gaze fierce.  “But I’ve got to do something,” she said with determination.  “I can’t just sit here and deal.  I’m not going to apologize for standing up for our species.”

 

Sighing, Jared moved forward and wrapped her in his arms.  Her hands immediately fisted in his shirt as she hugged back.  “I’m sorry for yelling at you,” he told her.  “I know I can’t control you.  But I just want you to be safe.  And what with the murder and Ackles coming—”

 

“It’s _Jensen Ackles_ who’s coming?” She asked, pulling back to look up at his face.  When Jared nodded, she let out her breath in a sharp hiss.  “No wonder you’re so freaked out.”

 

“You know about him?” Jared asked, a bit bewildered.

 

She rolled her eyes.  “If you didn’t know about him before today, then you are, like, the only person in the world who didn’t.”  She didn’t say anymore, just curled back into his arms.  Her voice was muffled as she said, “I’m not going to stop protesting.”

 

Jared looked up at the ceiling for guidance.  How did one deal with little sisters who were much too stubborn for their own good?  “Fine,” he said.  “But stay away from ones relating to Gauthier or the Inari Forces.  And let me know which ones you’re at when.”

 

“Yes, _mom_ ,” she said mockingly, but there was a slight smile on her face.  “That’s it?  You aren’t going to argue anymore.”

 

He looked at her seriously and she sobered under his gaze.  “You know my thoughts on it.  I can’t help you if you get arrested.  So I’m asking you not to put me in that situation.  You let me know things and I should be able to give you a heads-up if it looks like there’s gonna be police action.  You just need to get out if I tell you to.”

 

Meg nodded solemnly.  “I’m really not stupid,” she told him.  “I don’t want to get arrested either.  And I try to be careful.  I haven’t run into problems so far.”

 

Jared held up a hand.  “Don’t tell me.  I don’t want to know how long you’ve been lying to me.”

 

She cringed.  “I really am sorry,” she said in a small voice.  “But you were just _so_ against it… I didn’t want you to freak out.”

 

“And that worked _so_ well,” Jared said dryly.  He shook his head.  “Look, Meg, next time?  Just be honest with me.  We can’t afford to be lying to each other and doing things behind each others’ backs.  We need to be a team in all this, okay?  So be honest.”

 

“I will, I promise.”  She looked sincere enough, her eyes big and glassy as she looked up at Jared.  “And you have to promise to be careful while Ackles is here.  From what I’ve heard, he’s powerful, but pretty apathetic about anything that isn’t justice.  They say he’s like a bloodhound—he just hunts the truth down.”  Meg’s lips trembled a bit as she smoothed out his shirt in an anxious gesture.  “You’ve got a lot of truths you don’t want him going after.”

 

He did.  “Thanks for the warning,” he told her, kissing her on the forehead.  “You should get some sleep now.  You need to go to school tomorrow.”

 

She laughed shakily.  “School, right.”  She shook her head.  “It’s hard to believe life just goes on, even with all the crazy things that are happening.”

 

“Yeah.”  Jared didn’t know what else to say to that.  Life went on and he had to keep moving, end of story.  “Sleep well, okay?”

 

“You too.”

 

He stared at her door for a few moments after she closed it softly behind her.  Every instinct in his body wanted him to refuse to let her—or his mother—leave the house tomorrow.  His fox instincts wanted him to den down and weather out the storm of his enemy.  But, as Meg had proven, she was not a kit anymore.  She was going to do what she wanted, regardless of whether he approved.  It was pretty hard to accept.

 

“I’m never having kids,” Jared muttered as he arranged the pull-out bed and punched his pillow.  As far as he was concerned, his younger sister gave him enough heart attacks. *

In lieu of recent events, Jared decided to get to the DKPD station early.  He got three or four hours of sleep and then raced to make the earlybus.  Dozing as it drove, he almost missed the stop in Thunder District.  When he managed to get inside the building, he saw that most of the other detectives had had the same idea.  They were milling around the fifth floor, fiddling with things while they waited.

 

Jared immediately walked over to stand next to where Chad and Aldis were sitting.  Chad was half-asleep; his head kept drooping every few minutes and then he’d startle back awake.  Aldis, on the other hand, was actually spending his time usefully.  Jared found him flipping through a list.  When Aldis saw him, he smiled and waved, indicating that Jared should sit down next to him.  “I got a list of all the kitsunes that entered Heaven District between the time Gauthier gave his speech and the time of death.”  The man shrugged.  “I know it’s a long-shot, but I figured we weren’t even supposed to figure out a ‘tsune was involved, so maybe…”

 

“Yeah, it’s worth looking at,” Jared agreed.  “Anything in particular I should look out for?”

 

“Nah,” Aldis said, tapping his pen against the desk.  “To be honest, I’m mostly just looking right now to see if any name jumps out at me.  Later on, we can go through and check for other details that might help.  Well, that is, if Ackles wants us to.”

 

“If he’s got any brains to go with those tails, he will,” Jared muttered, startling a laugh out of his companion.

 

The laughter seemed to wake Chad up once more.  He frowned over at the two of them.  “When did you two get so friendly?” He asked, and there was a distinct sullenness to his voice.  Jared had almost forgotten that about Chad; his intense possessiveness had been awkward at times, especially because Chad hadn’t liked the time Genevieve had taken up in Jared’s life.

 

“When I realized he was a better detective than you’ll ever be,” Aldis teased lightly.  Chad immediately looked highly affronted, but before he could protest, Aldis held up a hand.  “No arguing unless you’re gonna help us look these over.”

 

“Fine,” Chad said moodily, scooting his chair closer.  His breath smelled like coffee as he looked over Jared’s shoulder.  “Do you guys see anything?”

 

Jared actually _had_ seen a few things.  Sighing, he grabbed a highlighter and colored a few names.  “These guys come to Void sometimes, that much I know.  Don’t ask me how,” he warned before they could jump in and demand answers.

 

Aldis’s lips pursed at that.  “Can you at least tell us _why_ they come to Void?”

 

“Kitsunes come to Void for one of two reasons,” Jared told him, lips twitching up at the corner into a wry, crooked grin.  “Sex or drugs.  These guys—” he jabbed his finger at their names “—are of the sex variety.”

 

Chad squinted at him.  Jared couldn’t tell if he was squinting because he was tired or just because he felt the need to, for some reason.  “Okay, but like… you gotta let us know if you have _some_ sort of connection to the whole prostitution thing.  Could be important later on.”

 

“I just have an aunt that keeps up with gossip,” Jared said, rolling his eyes.  It was the best explanation for Sam he could give.  “She works as a receptionist in one the… houses.  She keeps me updated on the important things.”

 

Aldis and Chad exchanged a look, and Jared pretty sure they knew he was leaving out some details.  “How many connections in Void do you have?” Aldis asked carefully.  “Depending on who the suspects end up being…”

 

“I’ll let you know if I know anything important, okay?” Jared assured them.  “That said, there are some people I don’t want to get on the wrong side of for nothing.  If they’re involved, that’s one thing.  It’s another to just tell you everything I know.”

 

“I can respect that,” Aldis said, although Jared suspected that he only agreed because he knew he wouldn’t get anymore information out of Jared.  “Just as long as we’re in the loop.”

 

There were a couple other names on the lists which caught Jared’s eye.  Both had been minimally involved in cases he’d worked for the DPDFU.  One had been one of their key suspects before the DKPD had demanded they take over the case.  Jared told his partners about everything he knew, including the cases, even though he doubted they had anything to do with it.  By the time they were done, they had about twelve names that they wanted to investigate in more depth.  Seven of them had been provided by Jared.

 

Jared also looked over the list of names that had been eliminated by the DNA machines.  None of the three big Void gang leaders were there.  Almost none of the top madames were either.  They had other people to do their dirty work, clearly.  Quite a few of the gangs’ chief enforcers were no longer suspects, which made it less likely to be something gang-related, unless there had been significant movement in their ranks since the last time Jared had checked.

 

Jared would have missed it if it hadn’t been for the sudden charge that seemed to go through the room.  The back of Jared’s neck pricked and he felt himself compelled to absentmindedly look up. 

 

He was still trying to think if he’d ever seen a kill with that particular signature when Jensen Ackles stepped out of the elevator and onto the fifth floor of the DKPD building.

 

If someone had asked him what he’d thought Jensen would look like before that moment, he would have said big and formidable.  He’d known Jensen was young and powerful, and he had expected a big, hulking kitsune to go with that. 

 

Instead, the man who entered the room was the sort of beautiful that was normally only seen in movie stars.  He _was_ tall—though not as tall as Jared—with broad shoulders, even though his frame was somewhat trim.  He wasn’t overly muscled, but there was clear strength in the way he walked, in the way he kept his chin up, and the way his eyes cooly scanned the room. 

 

If Jared had had to use one word to describe Jensen in that moment, it would have been “cold.”  From the emotionless expression on his face to the haughty way he disregarded the others around him, he seemed detached from everything.  His eyes slid across Jared, and Jared felt himself being catalogued, analyzed, and found uninteresting.

 

Realistically, he should have been happy with that.  He didn’t _want_ Jensen’s attention, and the rational side of him was jumping with joy.  His pride, however, was stung.  He _wasn’t_ someone this man could just dismiss.  He wouldn’t _let_ himself be.

 

After a moment, though, Jared shook that feeling off.  He couldn't afford to want Jensen's attention like that.  He was more than his pride, and if he had to act like less than he was in order to escape the kitsune’s attention, then he would.

 

“Shit, he looks like a motherfucking model,” Chad muttered from his place by Jared’s side.  “Look at those lips.”

 

Jared was deliberately _not_ looking at those lips.  His libido had apparently decided to emerge from its long isolation and he was _not_ happy about it.  He shoved it down, along with his pride.  There were plenty of men and women with beautiful mouths.  Jensen was hardly _exceptional_.

 

However, Jared was only really able to refocus when Pileggi came out of his office to greet Jensen.  The two men shook his hands, briefly but firmly.  “General Ackles,” Pileggi said, and his voice oozed with a slick kind of charm.  Jared wondered vaguely if the chief would lick Ackles’s shoes if he asked.  “We’re honored by your presence.”

 

“It’s Jensen, please,” Jensen murmured, and Jared got the feeling he only said please because manners had been drilled into him.  “I despise over-formality.”  His gaze had barely lingered on Pileggi for a second before he went back to looking around the building and taking in its inhabitants.  Jared thought he was a bit like a computer, the way it looked like he was absorbing everything in seconds.  He wondered if there were files inside that pretty head, chock-full of information taken in a moment’s glance.

 

“You can call me Mitch, then,” the chief volunteered, still smiling smarmily even though Jensen wasn’t looking at him.  “Do you need anything or shall we begin looking over things?  I’ve prepared details about the case in my office—”

 

At this, Jensen looked at him sharply.  “Did you personally investigate the case?” He questioned.  When Pileggi shook his head, Jensen dismissed him with a flick of his fingers.  “I want to talk to the detectives that worked the case.  If I am unable to have information first-hand, then I would prefer it second-hand instead of third-hand.  Information gets so easily distorted.”

 

Eight-tailed kitsune or not, so far Jared liked Jensen, if only because he had decided the chief was just as unworthy or his time as Jared was.  Besides, seeing the baffled expressions on everyone’s faces was the most amusing thing Jared had seen in _months_.

 

Finally, Pileggi recovered and waved quickly for Aldis and Chad to come forward.  Jared hung back, content to watch from the back of the crowd.  “Here are the detectives, Officer Hodge and Officer Murray.  They’re my finest detectives and—”

 

“I don’t care about their case history.”  Jensen didn’t roll his eyes, but Jared could easily imagine him doing so.  “I just want to know about what they have so far.”  His gaze flickered to Aldis and, for the first time, he didn’t instantly look away.  Jared was pretty sure that, if he got closer, he’d be able to see sweat forming on the back of Aldis’s neck.  Those green eyes were _intense_.  “Tell me everything.  Don’t leave anything out.  You never know what details may be important.”

 

Aldis stiffened, as if about to answer, but then, inexplicably, he looked back at Jared.  He took in a deep breath and then said in a surprisingly calm voice, “if you want all the details, I’m not the one you should talk to.  Our consultant, Jared Padalecki, was the one who made the most discoveries at the crime scene yesterday.”  He looked back at where Jared was frozen in shock. “Jared?”

 

Jensen looked back at him too, and those eyes were even more intense when fixed directly on him.  “Alright then.  Jared, you tell me.”  When Jared didn’t move, he raised his eyebrows.  “Now, if you please,” he added.

 

_Fuck_.  Damn Aldis and his clear sense of justice and honor.  No doubt he thought he was doing Jared a _favor_.  Gritting his teeth, Jared walked forward.  He stopped beside Chad, crossed his arms over his chest, and started to speak.  “We received the call about Gauthier’s death yesterday around nine in the morning.  Gauthier was discovered in the ballroom in his house by his butler.  Apparently, the only reason he was found that late was because it took the butler some time to search the rest of his house for Gauthier.  We arrived at the crime scene around a half-hour later.  The body was situated in a chair in the middle of the ballroom.  Given the amount of blood found at the scene, he had been murdered there.  Medical examiner confirmed cause of death was werefox claws to the throat.  We found a claw shard in one of the cuts and were able to get DNA, however the DNA did not match any in the DPDFU or DKPD systems.”  Jared took a quick breath, because this was the part he was sure Jensen _wasn’t_ going to like.  “There was also slight evidence of magic at the scene, in order to disguise scent.  The body was completely odorless.  According to my kitsune associates, the spell was very cleverly hidden and would be difficult to pull off.  Due the combination, we believe that a kitsune and a werefox worked together to kill Gauthier.”

 

There.  He was done.  Jensen would dismiss him and he would be able to sink back into the background.  Later, he’d have a talk to Aldis about exactly how much he did _not_ appreciate having the spotlight put on him.

 

Jensen was still staring at him though.  “Time of death?”

 

“Around one that morning,” Chad said, probably sensing that Jared did _not_ want to talk.

 

Interestingly, Jensen didn’t turn to look at Chad even though he had spoken.  Instead, he continued to observe Jared, even tilting his head to the side as if that would give him some new information.  “What kind of consultant are you for the DKPD, Jared?” He asked.

 

Before Jared could even _think_ about answering, Pileggi said dismissively, “he’s a consultant on crimes with ‘fox involvement.  He only started with us yesterday.”

 

Neutrally, Jensen said, “what a momentous first day.”

 

“Indeed,” Pileggi agreed, and shot a spiteful glare at Jared.  So much for not angering anyone.  Jared would have to tread carefully, or Pileggi would take the opportunity to blacklist him.

 

“So then, Jared,” Jensen said, walking closer to him.  He moved slowly, but the people around scattered out of his way at lightning speed.  Jensen stopped just in front of Jared, hands in his pockets as he looked up into Jared’s face scrutinizingly.  “Who do you think is in charge of the operation?  The kitsune or the werefox?”

 

Jared knew what Jensen expected him to say.  And maybe, if he said it, the ‘tsune would leave him alone.  However, it was equally likely that the ‘tsune would be able to tell he was lying.  Jared looked at the space just right of Jensen’s ear as he said, “I think it’s the werefox.” 

 

There were a few whispers of shock and a bit of muttering from the onlookers.  Jensen, however, _still_ refused to show any emotion.  “Why?” He asked flatly.

 

Jared gestured at the crime scene pictures, which were already nailed up on a board in the center of the department.  “The werefox made the kill.  While that might make it seem like the kitsune is letting the werefox take the fall for him or her, I think there might be a different reason.”  He paused, organizing his thoughts, then continued.  “There’s no sign of a struggle.  My thoughts are, if the kitsune was already there, he could easily have held Gauthier immobile, which explains how the werefox was able to get to the victim’s neck without a fight.  With the victim restrained, the ‘fox perp could have done anything, but they chose to make a distinctive kill.  The kitsune’s efforts were disguised.”  Jared shrugged.  “Serial killers and assassins like to leave a warning.  For me, that’s what this is.”

 

For the first time, Jensen’s lips curled up at the corner in a cool little smile.  He didn’t show any teeth, but there was a sense of smugness and satisfaction in it nonetheless.  “My thoughts exactly,” he said, nodding at Jared. “Obviously, the major question is how a werefox was able to get a kitsune in their power this way.  Given the power dynamic between our two species, it surely wasn’t easy.  We’re dealing with someone smart, someone cunning.”

 

“Wouldn’t the fact that there was DNA left at the scene contradict that?” Aldis asked.  “A smart killer wouldn’t have left that.”

 

Jensen looked over his shoulder for a moment, taking Aldis in once-more.  “Good question, detective.  However, even smart killers make mistakes.  Especially if they are new to killing.”

 

Jared raised his eyebrows.  “New?”

 

Jensen gestured to the pictures, particularly to the close-up on the claw marks.  “The killer paused for a second halfway through the cut.”  He pointed to a slight jagged mark in the otherwise clean cuts.  “I suspect that they were unused to the feeling of claws in flesh and hesitated before finishing.”

 

It certainly made sense.  Other than the mark, Jared didn’t think there was any other evidence, but it fit in with his idea of the killer.  Someone who was smart, but still liable to make mistakes, like realizing a claw-mark would leave DNA.  “Unless they want to get caught,” he said out loud and shrugged when Jensen looked back at them.  “You know what they say about serial killers.”

 

“Serial killers don’t typically go for extremely prominent members of society, however,” Jensen said dryly.  “We can’t disregard political motivation here.”  He tilted his head, still looking at the pictures.  “Do we have any estimate of the killer’s size from these marks?”

 

Luckily, the coroner was there.  She flipped her hair over her shoulder and said, “small.  Shorter than five feet five inches, but mostly likely over five feet.  Not a child, either.  The keratin’s too developed for that.”

 

Jensen’s eyebrows went up once more.  “Small enough to be female?”  A few of the officers looked at each other like they hadn’t even thought of that.  Jensen’s eyes narrowed.  “Did you check the DNA for gender?”

 

Looking flustered, the two forensic scientists shook their heads.  “We assumed—” One said.

 

“You assumed?” Jensen asked, in a deceptively light tone.  Jared didn’t think there was anyone who couldn’t hear the ice in it.  “You mean to tell me that, during a _criminal investigation_ , you didn’t check a _basic_ bit of information?”

 

The scientist swallowed.  “No, sir,” he whispered.

 

Jensen looked at them for one more second.  “You’re both fired,” he said, already turning his back.  When Pileggi began to object, Jensen held up a hand imperiously.  “Not only am I here to deal with this murder, but also to ensure this department is working effectively.  So far, other than Detective Hodge and Jared, you aren’t doing a good job of convincing me.”  Jensen pinned Pileggi with his stare.  “And one of those two has only been here for a day.”

 

Jared was barely able to keep himself from grinning as Pileggi wilted under Jensen’s command like a rat from sunlight.  Jensen didn’t even seem to have noticed how thoroughly he’d crushed the man.  In fact, his eyes were back on the board of evidence.  “So, potentially female.  Perhaps he hired company for the night.”

 

Without thinking, Jared shook his head.  “No way.  Tails never take girls back to their districts.” 

 

Once more, those green eyes fixed on Jared.  “And how do you know that?”

 

He’d already exposed himself.  He just had to play it cool.  Shrugging, he said, “I live in Void District, which is the center of that sort of activity.  I’ve grown up around it.  You learn the rules.”

 

“Not good enough,” Jensen snapped.  “How did you learn?”

 

Jared couldn’t stop his hands from balling into fists and he glared back at the other man.  “ _Unfortunately_ , since it’s _incredibly_ hard to climb out of the slums once you’re in them, most of the kids I went to high school with are now employed with either the gangs or the houses.  So, yeah.  You just _learn_.”

 

Something flashed through Jensen’s eyes then, something Jared might have mistaken for approval if he hadn’t known differently.  “Do you still live there?” Jensen asked intently.

 

Unsure where the question was leading, Jared nodded.

 

“Good,” Jensen said.  “I’ll be staying with you for the rest of this case, then.”

 

“ _What?_ ” Jared hissed.  The idea was fucking absurd.  It was crazy.  It was going to get everyone—with the possible exception of Jensen—killed.  “No you are _not_!”

 

Jensen looked at him like he was acting like an unreasonable child.  “I need to be able to observe things.  If Void is as you say it is, then I need to be there.  I might be able to glean something.”

 

Jared barely kept from flailing his arms to demonstrate just how _incredibly stupid_ that idea was.  “You can’t just _waltz_ into Void,” he insisted.  “They’re smart.  They’ll see you’re a kitsune and clam up faster than a—”

 

Jensen snorted, waving a hand.  “I’m an eight-tailed Heaven kitsune.  I’ll change my cuff out and disguise my scent with magic.  I assure you that no one will suspect a thing.”

 

Jared took a deep breath.  And then another.  Once he felt _slightly_ calmer, he looked at Jensen levelly.  “I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?”

 

Shaking his head, Jensen smiled again, that smug, satisfied little grin.  “No.  It’s imperative for the investigation.”

 

Running his tongue along his teeth, Jared firmed his jaw.  “Alright then.  I have rules.”

 

Jensen quirked a brow, looking even more amused.  “Rules?”

 

“Yeah.”  Jared raised one eyebrow.  “I’m the one who knows how Void works.  I’m the one whose ass will be on the line if we don’t do this right.  So, rules.  Otherwise I’m not letting you stay in my house.”

 

“Padalecki!” Pileggi barked, but Jensen held up his hand, not even looking back.  Instantly, Pileggi shut up.  Damn, Jared wished he could do that.

 

“Alright, rules,” Jensen agreed, sounding more like he was indulging Jared than anything else.  “Go ahead.”

 

“One—” Jared held up his finger “—you can’t go in as a full-werefox.  No one will believe that, with the way you act.  You gotta be null; no one else would act so stuck-up.”

 

“Null?” Jensen questioned, with faint, but genuine, curiosity, although Jared could barely detect it.

 

Rolling his eyes, Jared explained, “you’d call it shinai.  We call it null.  There’s other slang, but if you pretend to be a shinai that’s been with a family since you were fifteen, no one will expect you to know it.”  His mind raced as he tried to figure out a way to explain Jensen.  “You’re a jirai for a ‘tsune that’s a cop.  He wanted you to help out with ‘fox cases, so you’ve been working for the DKPD like me.  He’s out of town, so you’re staying at my place.”  Jared’s mind raced.  There were a lot of loop-holes in the cover, but hopefully Jensen wouldn’t be around any ‘foxes long enough for it to slip.  “And let me do most of the talking.  Got it?”

 

“Alright then,” Jensen agreed mildly.  “That sounds reasonable.  Anything else?”

 

Jared just glared at him.  “No,” he gritted out.

 

“Good.”  Jensen nodded at him once then looked over at Pileggi.  “I want Detective Hodge, his partner, and Jared at my complete disposal for this case.  All their other cases I want handed over to other teams.”

 

“Of course, of course,” Pileggi acquiesced.  “Although I’m not sure why you want Padalecki.  He’s just a—”

 

Looking supremely unimpressed, Jensen said, “in the time that I’ve been here, he’s showed more sense than you and most of the officers here combined.  I intend to put that mind to use.”

 

Jared couldn’t help it; he flushed a little at that.  Internally, he berated himself.  The fact that Jensen had noticed him to that extent was bad enough; he didn’t need to go digging for more of that approval.  He needed to somehow convince Jensen that his initial impression of his competence had been wrong, and quickly.  The less time Jensen stayed in Void with Jared’s family, the better.

 

Oh god.  What was he going to tell Meg?

 

*

 

Jensen was extremely critical of everything.  If he asked for something to be done, he expected it to be completed perfectly and efficiently; anything less was a disappointment.  Even Jared got a few disbelieving looks—they made him feel like he’d just done something ridiculous, like taking off his pants and going for a run in his boxers.  He did notice, however, that he and Aldis got fewer than almost everyone else.  Chad, Jensen just seemed to ignore.

 

In fact, Chad was being oddly quiet in general.  Jared wondered if he was upset that Aldis had given Jared all the credit, or if he was just intimidated by Jensen in general.  Neither seemed very Chad-like; Jared resolved to talk to his friend as soon as he could get a moment alone with him.  Given how close Jensen seemed to want to keep Jared, he was not likely to get the change anytime soon.

 

Around three, Jared excused himself and went to the bathroom.  He wasn’t surprised when Chad walked in as he was washing his hands, looking dejected.  “Hey, man,” Jared said casually.  “What’s up?”

 

Chad darted a venomous glance at the door, although Jared suspected it wasn’t so much directed at the door as the people behind it.  “I don’t like him,” he grumbled.  “He’s such a prick.”

 

“He’s something,” Jared agreed.  He kept going back and forth between whether he actually _liked_ Jensen or not.  Truthfully, he didn’t _want_ to like him, but there was something appealing in that ruthless efficiency.  Meg had been right when she’d said that he was like a bloodhound; nothing had seemed to distract him from his goal and he hadn’t seemed to give a shit about anything else.  The fact that he’d accepted Jared so easily was proof of it.  Jensen didn’t seem to care if someone was a werefox or a kitsune, as long as they did their job well.

 

“He just came in and started acting like he owns everything,” Chad griped, leaning against one of the other sinks as Jared dried his hands.  “He’s so fucking presumptuous.  Just because he has eight-tails…”

 

“I think he just really wants things done right,” Jared offered.  When Chad glared at him, he raised his hands in surrender.  “Look, yeah, he’s kinda persnickety.  But with him around, hopefully we can get this case over and done with quickly.  And then he’ll be out of our hair.”

 

Chad brightened at that.  “Right.  He’s gonna leave.  Thank _god_.”

 

Jared snorted at his friend’s obvious relief and clapped him on the shoulder.  “Just try not to let him get to you.  I get the feeling he’d be more amused by that than anything.”

 

He was about to exit the bathroom when Chad grabbed his wrist.  Jared looked back to see Chad looking at him intently.  “You don’t like him either, do you, Jared?” Chad asked, staring up into his eyes.  “You agree with me, right?”

 

Jared hesitated before answering.  “I can appreciate some things about him, but I don’t think we’re ever going to be buddies, if that’s what you’re asking.”  It was the best he could offer.  Despite how much he wanted to _hate_ Jensen, he didn’t have it in him.  Especially not when the man had swatted down Pileggi so effectively.  “Besides, he’s a kitsune.”

 

“I’m a kitsune!” Chad said, sounding affronted.

 

Indeed, he was.  Jared had almost forgotten how much of one.  He’d idealized Chad a bit, he’d realized.  While Chad might not be as much of a bigot as most of his kind, he’d still been indoctrinated with their ideas and beliefs.  “Yeah,” Jared said, “but, more importantly, you’re _Chad_.”

 

Chad grinned at that.  “Damn right I am!”  Luckily, he didn’t delve further, instead reaching up to playfully mess when Jared’s hair until Jared batted him away.  “Alright, let’s go out there and deal with that pain in the ass.”

 

“Sure,” Jared agreed, amused, and followed Chad out. 

 

He returned to his spot beside Jensen.  Green eyes flickered up momentarily before refocusing on the information in front of him.  “The werefox is definitely female,” Jensen informed him.  “DNA confirmed it.”

 

“Good to know.”  That meant entirely different suspects.  Women were more likely to be “working girls” than be in the gangs, although there were exceptions.  “Anything else?”

 

“Unfortunately, no.”  Jensen muttered something under his breath about a lack of competence.  “I believe Detective Hodge just finished calling the last kitsune on the entry lists.  There are few without alibis, but I’m inclined to disregard them.”  Jensen snorted, distaste coloring his face.  “One is an _elementary school_ teacher.”  He shook his head.  “There’s no motivation for them to be pairing up with a werefox against Gauthier.”

 

“Blackmail?” Jared offered, although he privately agreed.

 

“It’s hard to blackmail someone who has such significant legal power over you,” Jensen said matter-of-factly.  “If you have enough power to be doing something worth being blackmailed about, then you have enough money to have the person easily be taken care of.”

 

The way Jensen talked about assassination and murder as if it was commonplace sent a shiver down Jared’s spine.  There had been no condemnation in his voice, but no approval either.  It had just been a statement of the honest truth of the matter.  Jared tried to brush it off, saying, “so, you think that whoever is working with the werefox has their own reasons for wanting Gauthier dead.”  He huffed, looking back at the papers in front of him.  “I can’t see why they’d kill to be supervisor.  Especially not with a ‘fox’s help.”

 

“It is an odd situation,” Jensen agreed.  “There is also the question of how the werefox got into Heaven district in the first place.  The walls between the districts are too smooth to climb and the waystations are heavily monitored.”

 

Biting down on his lip, Jared thought about not saying anything.  In the end, he decided it wasn’t worth it.  “There’s a hole in the wall,” he said bluntly.  “It’s not entirely common knowledge, but enough people know in Void that it’s a plausible explanation.”

 

Jensen raised his eyebrows.  “And you didn’t think to _tell me this before_?”  His tone was freezing cold, each word clipped and sharp. 

 

Jared merely shrugged.  “Didn’t seem necessary.”  He crossed his arms, almost daring Jensen to say more.  If Jensen fired him, there was no way Jared would let him sleep at his place, eight-tail Heaven kitsune or not.

 

“I need _all_ information,” Jensen snapped.  “I can’t work when I’m _blind_.”  He fixed Jared with his stare punishingly.  “Don’t make the mistake of withholding information again, Jared.”

 

“Sorry,” Jared said insincerely.  He knew Jensen could tell he was lying by the way his shoulders tightened.

 

They worked in silence for a few more minutes before Jensen let out an irritated huff.  “Where is the damn hole?”

 

Jared shrugged.  “I don’t know, exactly.  I’ve never used it.”  When Jensen looked like he was about to kill Jared with his _eyes_ , Jared sighed and yelled, “Chad!”

 

Chad appeared by his side.  He looked like he was having a hard time deciding whether he wanted to glare at Jensen or ignore him and look at Jared.  “What’s up?”

 

Jared waved over at Jensen.  “The General here wants to know where the damn hole you made in the wall between Heaven and Void is.”

 

Jensen’s eyes snapped to Chad.  “You made it?”

 

Chad frowned.  “Yeah.  To visit Jared.”  He looked back at Jared.  “You think that’s how the ‘fox got into Heaven?”

 

Jared shrugged.  “Seems plausible enough.”

 

“It’s on the far north side, near the school.  There’s a shitload of ivy covering it.  That’s why I chose that spot in the first place.”  He looked back at Jensen stiffly.  “Is that all, sir?”

 

Jensen seemed to have recovered what little of his composure he’d lost.  “That should be information enough for Jared and I to look there when we return to Void tonight.”  He raised his eyebrows expectantly at Jared.  “Assuming you know where he’s talking about?”

 

“I know the general area, yeah.”  Jared waited a minute, then said.  “You know that’s one of the most populated areas, right?  The ‘fox’s scent has probably faded by now.”

 

“It won’t hurt to check.”  Jensen had gone back to his paperwork, pen neatly making checks as he looked down the list.  “Besides, it is a far better lead than any other we have.  The next step currently available to us is demanding a record of every female werefox living in Dallas that is under five-five.  Much better to check the hole in the wall, wouldn’t you say?”

 

There wasn’t much to say to that.  They _were_ at a bit of a dead-end.  “I’ll take you there,” Jared promised eventually.  Jensen didn’t even respond, just waved his hand dismissively and signaled that Jared should return to his own work.  With a sigh, Jared did so. *

If Jared had hoped to deter Jensen from coming home with him by announcing they had to ride the bus, he would have been disappointed.  When Jared mentioned that there was no way they could _drive_ , Jensen raised his eyebrows and said, “of course we can’t.  That would draw unnecessary attention.”  Like Jared hadn’t already _known_ that.

 

The chief tried to insist that _he_ could drive them to the border of Void and they could take the bus from there.  He made it sound like taking the bus was a _hardship_ or something, which made Jared think that he’d probably never been on a bus in his life.  Jensen dismissed the idea without even looking at him.  “Nonsense.  Someone could easily see us if we did that.  We need to preserve the story.”

 

Jensen’s suitcase had been retrieved from wherever he’d stashed it when he’d arrived that morning, and Jared was pleased to see that it was relatively nondescript.  When Jensen carried it onto the bus, no one batted an eye, although the bus driver did look as if he wanted to ask who Jared’s company was.

 

Jensen remained silent most of the bus ride, sitting up straight and looking out the windows with a lazy sort of interest.  To anyone who looked, it probably appeared like he was just daydreaming, but Jared could almost _see_ the gears in his head turning as he took in the sights.  He wondered if Jensen ever relaxed or if he was always this mechanic and vigilant.  He imagined Jensen, with that same intense gaze, cooking, or reading a book, or having sex—

 

Nope.  Not thinking about Jensen having sex.  Jared jerked his head away once he realized he’d been staring and opted to look out the windows on the opposite side of the bus instead.  The less he thought about Jensen, the better.

 

He couldn’t help occasionally checking the expression on Jensen’s face as they drove further into ‘fox territory, however.  Jensen didn’t seem to visibly react to his changing surroundings, but Jared thought he must be _somewhat_ surprised.  Void was probably vastly different than wherever he’d grown up.

 

Still, when they hopped off the bus in Void, Jensen didn’t seem the slightest bit perturbed.  He slid his hands into his pockets and looked expectantly at Jared.  When Jared merely looked back, there was that slight eyebrow raise that Jared had come to know meant Jensen was less than impressed.  “The hole in the wall?” He prompted.

 

“Right.”  He didn’t bother waving Jensen along; he simply turned and walked off in the direction of his old high school.  He had to pass by the elementary school to get there, as well as Pellegrino’s Candy Shop and Bakery.  Genevieve waved at him from the shop and he nodded to her, but didn’t stop walking.  Introducing Genevieve and Jensen put Jensen _far_ too close to Mark and that would lead nowhere good.  Besides, he didn’t want to potentially jeopardize her.

 

They were nearly at the high school when Jensen said, “I’ll admit to being curious about why Chad blasted a hole in the wall between Heaven and Void to visit you.”  Jared noticed that he did not frame the inquiry as a question, like it would be a mark against his pride to _ask_ something. 

 

Jared shrugged.  He didn’t see any reason not to answer.  “Yeah, well, we were still in school at the time and Chad didn’t want it getting back to his mom that he was going into Void to visit me.  Thus, hole in the wall.”  He’d actually been pretty irritated with Chad for it, especially because he hadn’t really _wanted_ Chad visiting Void.  “And believe me when I say that I had _nothing_ to do with it.  So if you want to penalize someone, you can deal with Chad.”

 

“You seem close with Detective Murray.” 

 

Another non-question.  “We’ve been friends for a while,” Jared agreed mildly, unsure where all this was leading.

 

“You didn’t strike me as the type,” Jensen said inexplicably as he looked around.  Jared noticed a distinct focus on the female high school students; not in a sexual way, but like Jensen wanted to categorize them more fully.  It was only when Jared remembered that the ‘fox they were looking for was female and under five-five that he realized why Jensen might have such a keen interest.

 

At least his interest in the girls seemed logical.  His interest in Chad and Jared’s friendship, on the other hand, was not. “What type don’t I seem like?” Jared asked, when it became clear Jensen wasn’t going to elaborate.  Unlike _some_ people, he didn’t see anything wrong with asking questions.

 

Jensen glanced over at him, lips quirked slightly upwards in that same expression of satisfaction, like he had won some game.  “You don’t seem like the type to be friends with a kitsune, much less one from a somewhat distinguished family.”

 

Jared’s stride stuttered for a moment.  “And you say that having only seen me interact with kitsunes.  How can you be so sure?”

 

“You’re far too proud,” Jensen told him.  “You’re not the sort of man who will allow others to live peacefully thinking you are lesser than them.”

 

That, Jared thought, was disturbingly accurate for someone who hadn’t even known him for half a day.  “You think I’m lesser than you,” he pointed out.

 

“Do I?” Jensen asked, quirking an eyebrow and smirking.  “Are you quite sure of that?”

 

Jared stopped walking and crossed his arms.  Obligingly, Jensen halted as well.  “I don’t think you think anyone is on the same level as you,” he said, not censoring his words.  He looked Jensen straight in the eye and spoke with confidence.  “You walked into the department and dismissed all of us in the blink of an eye.  You might like me better than some of the others, but you hardly consider me an equal.”

 

Jensen looked at him for a moment, still smirking slightly.  “It’s very interesting, you know, to be told what I think by a werefox.”  Despite the allusion to his species, there was no jibe hidden there that Jared could find.  “You might be surprised, Jared, to find you’re not quite right.”

 

“But I’m not quite wrong either, am I?” Jared pressed, and Jensen did something unexpected; he laughed.

 

It wasn’t a full-belly laugh, more like a chuckle than anything.  At the end of it, Jensen snorted, shaking his head.  “No, Jared.  You’re not quite wrong.”  He tilted his head to the side and Jared caught a flash of teeth as he smiled, before his lips pressed together once more.  “I _do_ have a fine sense of my own superiority.  It’s hard _not_ to, especially when surrounded by the type of idiots which make up that department.”  He gestured in front of him.  “Now, if you don’t mind, I believe we have a hole to get to?”

 

The hole itself was not large or well-made; Chad had blasted it open with his magic, so it was basically just a jagged half-circle with bits of brick and plaster sticking out.  Ivy had grown over it, so it remained mostly covered unless one knew where to look for it.  Jared pulled away the ivy, showing Jensen, and sniffed a bit. The scent there _was_ mixed, but a particular scent stood out.  “Damn it,” he hissed.  When Jensen looked at him in askance, he gritted his teeth.  “My sister’s been here.”

 

“Is your sister a werefox female under the height of five-five?” Jensen inquired immediately and tonelessly.  When Jared whipped his head around to glare at him, he just shrugged.  “I have to ask.  Her scent _is_ at the place where the perp most likely crossed over.”

 

“She’s five-eight,” Jared said from between his teeth.  Kneeling down in order to get closer to the scents, he frowned as he saw a patch of black fabric caught on one of the bricks.  He tugged it out and sniffed it.  Meg’s scent was concentrated on it; no doubt this was why her scent had remained so strong.  He tucked it away in his pocket, deciding that he would talk to Meg about _not_ doing stupid things like crossing into Heaven District later, when Jensen wasn’t around.

 

Jensen was running his hands over the wall, as if feeling for something.  Jared suspected that he was trying to sense things with his magic, although he had _no_ idea how that would work, or even what powers Heaven kitsunes really had.  Basic kitsune powers were fairly self-explanatory, but Jared had never gotten a good description of the type of powers Heaven and Void kitsunes utilized.  Either way, he figured the best thing to do was keep quiet and continue searching for some kind of scent.

 

He’d been right, though, when he’d said that the scent would likely have worn away.  It didn’t help that the scent from Meg’s shirt overpowered most everything else.  That, combined with scents from the high-schoolers who had walked by and time, meant that he couldn’t smell any other individual scents.

 

Eventually, he tilted his head up to look at Jensen, who was staring at the wall like it had offended him in some way.  “Did you find anything?”

 

“Not anything useful, no,” Jensen replied.  “Unless you want to hear about the teenage couple that was making out here earlier today.”  When Jared grimaced, his expression seemed to lose a bit of his frustration.  “I _can_ confirm that a girl crawled under this at the appropriate time that night, but too much time has passed.  I couldn’t see anything but the fact that she was female, wearing black, and had brown hair.”

 

Jared thought of the scrap of black fabric in his pocket and of Meg’s long, brown hair, and resolved to _not_ mention it to Jensen, just in case.  “I couldn’t pick out any scents other than the students around here either,” Jared said, standing up and dusting off his pants.  “At least we have an idea of hair color, I suppose.”

 

Jensen nodded shortly.  “It’s better than nothing.”  He moved away from the wall as soon as Jared was up, striding purposely back out onto the street beside the high school.  “Your house now, I presume?”

 

“Unless you want to go to a brothel,” Jared said wryly.  When Jensen just snorted, he started walking in the direction of his house.  He didn’t know if that snort meant Jensen was averse to the idea of prostitution, werefoxes weren’t up to his standards, or if he just wasn’t interested in sex at all.  So far, Jensen had only had flashes of acting like a normal person, it seemed.  The idea of him having sex—

 

Nope.

 

“Aren’t you going to ask?” Jensen inquired mildly, interrupting Jared’s thoughts and making him feel strangely guilty, like Jensen had actually _known_ he was thinking about him having sex.

 

“What am I supposed to be asking?” Jared returned, because, realistically, there were _lots_ of things he _could_ ask Jensen.

 

Huffing impatiently, Jensen said, “How I did what I did at the wall?”  Not giving Jared any time to reply, Jensen waved an elegant hand.  “Everyone asks.  They want to know if I can do it to anything, how much I can see, etc.  I’m assuming you do too.”  He looked at Jared expectantly, and since he _did_ want to know, Jared nodded.  Without any further prompting, Jensen quickly elaborated, “the best way to put it is that I can view a sort of distorted video of the past few days if I touch things, sometimes.  I can’t do it to everything.  I can’t, for instance, touch a werefox and know everything he has done recently.  I can only work with elemental substances.  I can do the same thing with fire or ash.  Yes, I _can_ pull information from the ground but it is… difficult and hard to use most times.  Normally, there is too much data for my mind to be able to properly absorb it.”  He looked perturbed by this, almost as if there was nothing he desired more than being able to change that fact.  “I can also use water and electricity, although both are often impractical given their fluidity.”

 

“So, Heaven powers are still related to the rest Basic powers?” Jared asked, curious. 

 

“Somewhat,” Jensen agreed, but he didn’t explain further.  Jared suspected this was only because Jensen could tell he _was_ curious.  He scowled at Jensen’s profile for a second and then stamped ahead, taking a lead as they wound through the streets towards Jared’s house.

 

No one else waved at them on their walk, although they did get a few odd looks.  Jared caught several peoples’ eyes darting down to take in Jensen’s cuff; no doubt they’d heard about his transfer and were wondering if he’d brought a kitsune home with him.  Their expressions seemed to ease a little when they saw the stripes of black and white.  Jared wanted to scream in their faces not to trust those bands, or what their own noses were telling them, but he stayed silent.

 

Just outside his house, Jared stopped Jensen, grabbing his shirt in a fist to hold him where he was.  Jensen didn’t even looked threatened, just raised an eyebrow.  “Look,” Jared said fiercely, “My mom and my sister are in there.  You will treat them well.  You will be polite.  I’m going to tell my sister who you are, because I don’t believe in lying to her.  And—”

 

For the first time, Jensen rolled his eyes.  With a brush of his hand, he pushed Jared off.  “I’m not here to spy on your family, Jared,” he said with a tinge of irritation.  “I’m here to get a better view into life in Void, in order to identify our perp.  Do you understand?”

 

“Do _you_ understand?” Jared stressed, and only when Jensen nodded shortly did Jared unlock the door to his house and let the ‘tsune into his home.

 

Meg was at the kitchen table, like normal.  She seemed to have recovered from the night before, although there were slight circles under her eyes.  She stood up when she saw Jensen.  “Who’re you?” She asked bluntly, glancing over at Jared.

 

Jared sighed.  He shrugged off his jacket, hung it up, and then made introductions.  “Meg, this is Jensen Ackles.  Jensen, my sister Meg.”

 

Meg’s eyes opened impossibly wide.  “You brought _Jensen Ackles_ back to _Void_?” She hissed.  “Are you _crazy_?!  And you warned _me_ not to be stupid—”

 

“Believe me,” Jared said dryly, cutting her off.  “It was _not_ my idea.”  When Meg continued to glare at him, he ran his hand through his hair agitatedly.  “Look, he thinks—”  At Jensen’s fierce look, he started over.  “Okay, _we_ think that the ‘fox involved in Gauthier’s murder probably came from Void.  _This one_ —” he jabbed his finger at Jensen “—thought it would be a bright idea to try to blend in with the locals in order to fish for information.”

 

“That’s stupid,” Meg said bluntly.  She turned to Jensen.  “You’re stupid.”

 

“I can’t say anyone has ever told me that before,” Jensen replied mildly, luckily not seeming the slightest bit upset.  “It’s a rather refreshing change.”  He didn’t hold out his hand to her, but Jared got the sense that Meg had just made herself interesting as well. 

 

Great.

 

Meg continued to look at Jensen like his mother had dropped him multiple times as a child.  “You’re not what I expected,” she told him.  “Although you kind of are as well.”

 

Jensen turned to Jared, a small, bemused smile on his face.  “I don’t know whether to be insulted or not.”

 

“I’m not sure you actually can _be_ insulted,” Jared said, deadpan.  “Meg, look, don’t tell Mom who he is, alright?  I don’t want her to have to worry about that.”

 

“Yeah, no, sure,” Meg agreed distractedly.  “What’s his cover?”

 

“Apparently, I’m a jirai,” Jensen informed her.  “My master works for the police force and is out of town, so I’m staying with Jared.”  Jensen tilted his head, moving closer to Meg and the table.  “Would you like to tell us why Jared found a scrap of clothing saturated in your scent at the hole in the wall between Heaven and Void today?”

 

If Jared had thought Meg’s eyes had been wide before, it was nothing compared to how they were now.  “What?” She squeaked.  “Why the _fuck_ would I be near that place?”

 

“Perhaps to murder Gauthier?” Jensen suggested, almost amicably.  Jared moved forward, mouth open, ready to remind Jensen of all the reasons why Meg was _not_ the one they were looking for, but Jensen held up that same imperious hand that he’d silenced Pileggi with earlier that afternoon.  Jared suddenly felt a surge of sympathy towards the DKPD chief.  It was _not_ fun being on the receiving end.

 

Jensen continued, as if nothing had happened.  “Jared did his best to hide that he’d found that bit of fabric from me.  You sit here before me with obviously radical documents spread out.  I would guess that you believe pretty fiercely in kitsune-werefox equality.  Murdering Gauthier would serve you politically.”  When Meg merely stared at him, Jensen smiled slightly, but it didn’t look genuine at all.  It was tight around the corners.  “I would recommend that you be honest, by the way.”

 

Meg glanced over at Jared quickly, before turning back to Jensen.  She looked cowed, like she had finally realized that, yes, she might not be able to stay as safe as she wanted to be and stand up for her beliefs at the same time.  “N-no,” she stuttered out, looking down at the pamphlets on the table.  “I didn’t kill him.  I swear.”  She looked desperately over at Jared.  “I wasn’t even at that hole, I promise.  I don’t know how my scent got there.”

 

For one long moment, Jensen looked at her.  Then, he rapped his knuckles against the table.  “I’m inclined to believe you.  Besides, your size doesn’t match up with the estimate we obtained from those claw-marks.”  When he averted his gaze from Meg to Jared, Jared swallowed.  There was ice in that gaze.  “Jared, please do remember that I do _not_ like when information is kept from me.”

 

It was that same practiced politeness that Jared had noticed initially, and that scared him more than anything else about what Jensen said.  Slowly, he nodded and tried to keep his voice level as he spoke.  “You didn’t need to frighten my sister to drive that point home.”

 

Jensen arched one eyebrow.  “Didn’t I?”  He held his hand out for the scrap of cloth and, reluctantly, Jared passed it over.  “Besides, don’t overestimate your own self-importance.  At least a tenth of it was to confirm that your sister wasn’t the killer.”

 

Abruptly, Meg stood up from the table.  “I’m going to my room,” she announced, and her voice was just _barely_ steady.  “I don’t think I want to sit at the table with you tonight, Mr. Ackles.”  She stormed into her room.

 

“I ask for _one_ thing!” Jared growled, but Jensen simply rolled his eyes.

 

“Go after her.  I’ll wait here.”  He seated himself on the couch, deliberately turning his back on Jared.  After a moment of glaring at the back of his head, Jared followed Meg into her room. 

 

Inside it, she was pacing back and forth.  She didn’t stop, or even pause, upon Jared’s entrance, just kept moving like she felt compelled.  “I don’t like him,” she spat out.  “He’s just like the others—all high and mighty.  Everything to teach you a lesson.  Me a lesson.  That was just _cruel_.”

 

“I agree.”  It had been cruel.  Jared could imagine a million different ways Jensen could have gone about it.  Yet, there was something almost appealing about how Jensen had gone for the throat instead of researching behind their backs.  “At least he was honest,” he offered Meg, knowing it was a cold comfort.  “And we’re hardly the first people he’s done this to today.  You should have seen him at the station.”

 

Meg shot him a venomous glare.  “I don’t _want_ to hear about _Jensen Ackles’s_ other exploits.  Just because he treats _everyone_ this way doesn’t mean I feel any better about it!”  Her fists clenched and unclenched sporadically, and Jared was sure she was imagining wrapping her hands around Jensen’s throat.  He watched her, giving her time to vent her anger as she stomped and paced.

 

Eventually, she collapsed on her bed with a loud huff, landing on her back with her arms spread wide.  “I don’t like the idea of having him in our den,” she whispered, leaving Jared a bit shocked.  It was rare anyone revealed the more fox-like aspects of themselves; it was somewhat taboo.

 

If her fox was upset, then Jared reasoned the only way to comfort her was to appeal to her more animalistic urges.  Gingerly, he sat down on the bed next to her and rubbed his hand across her cheeks and neck, scent-marking her.  She leaned into it and then he bent down so she could mark him in return.  “It’s going to be fine,” he told her, once the ritual was finished.  “Hopefully, we can solve the murder quickly and he’ll be out of the house in no time.”  He paused, considering.  “Even if we _don’t_ solve it quickly, I’m sure he’ll get bored of staying here soon enough.  I mean, he’s gonna have to sleep on the floor.”

 

“Hmmm,” Meg hummed, grinning softly.  “I might have to come out again to see that.  I wanna see his face when you tell him you’re not giving up the couch-bed.”

 

“Not that it’s much to give up,” Jared admitted wryly.  He ran his hand through her hair, petting her soothingly.  “Look, he’s like you said, a bloodhound.  You were just an object in his way—so am I, to some extent.  We cooperate and he’ll move on quickly.”

 

 

Meg nodded, rubbing her cheek against his leg.  “You should tell Mom to stay with Sam or someone tomorrow.  She’s already in bed for tonight, so you don't’ have to worry about it for now, but… she won’t handle him well.”

 

It was a sensible idea.  “Agreed,” Jared told her.  “If Jensen decides he wants to stay here tomorrow as well, I’ll tell Mom to have a sleepover.”

 

 

*

 

 

It took a while to get Meg completely calmed down.  Jared only left her after she was nearly asleep.  When he slipped back into the main room, Jensen was still sitting on the sofa.  He’d turned on the TV at some point and was watching the local news channel.  “Fascinating,” Jared heard him murmur just as Jared reentered the room.

 

Jensen didn’t react in any bit way to Jared’s presence in the room, but Jared felt that he knew he was there.  His thoughts were confirmed when Jensen did not seem at all surprised to hear Jared speak.

 

Jared didn’t bother beating around the bush.  “You do that again, you’re out,” he said bluntly.  “This is still _my_ house.  It’s still _my_ decision who stays in it.  I have a right to throw you out and I will utilize it.”

 

Looking back over his shoulder, Jensen smiled, close-mouthed.  The only light was the TV playing on his face, flashing patterns of white and green and blue.  “I heard you talking to her in there,” he said, matter-of-fact.  “You’re not wrong.  A bloodhound is a good analogy for me.  The hunt is what I live on.  It’s how I stay sane in this world filled with idiotic people.”  He waved his hand at the screen of the television as he turned back to it.  “All this inanity—everyone is _so_ focused on their superiority or inferiority that they don’t think of _anything else_.”  He bared his teeth, not in a smile, but in a savage snarl.  “People talk about ‘foxes being animals, creatures of instinct, but the truth is that we are no better.  We have to have some focus, some conduit for our power or we can go wild.  I focus on cases.  The president focuses on the nation.  Your friend Chad…”  Jensen’s eyes flickered to Jared once more and he smiled.  “Well, I’m sure you’d know better than I would.” 

 

Jared raised his eyebrows, confused.  Somehow, he got the feeling that Jensen knew more than he was saying.

 

“I don’t think that’s an animal thing,” Jared said quietly.  “I think that’s a people thing.  No one can live without something to live for.”  He sat down the sofa beside Jensen.  “That was an awfully intricate apology.”

 

“That’s because it wasn’t one.”  Jensen sighed and, for a moment, Jared almost thought he could see more than the bloodhound, more than the eight-tailed Heaven kitsune.  “Your sister was more than a potential suspect.  If she was _not_ the perp, as I suspected, then she must have had some relation to the perp.  _This_ —” he nodded to the scrap of fabric safely protected within a ziplock bag “—means something.  It was left there for somebody to find.”

 

A chill ran down Jared’s spine.  “You think someone is trying to frame her.”

 

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Jensen said gravely.  “We’ll have to see if more evidence implicating her comes up.  For now, I’d recommend that she makes sure she’s never alone.  If the perps kill again, she’ll need an alibi.”

 

They lapsed into silence.  Jared watched blindly as the news flickered across the TV screen, just a blur of images and words.  He wasn’t like Meg, who had always believed so ardently and passionately in things.  He’d known that he had to take care of himself and his own before he could help anyone else, and he’d known he’d never really _be_ in a place to help anyone else.  As a ‘fox, he would never have that opportunity.

 

Meg, though, he could take care of.  Meg, he _would_ take care of.

 

“Jared,” Jensen said, breaking him out of his stupor.  “We should get some rest.”  His eyes flicked to the clock.  “Something tells me there will be a lot to do tomorrow.”

 

Jared had the same feeling.  Sighing, he stood up and shooed Jensen off the couch so he could unfold it into a bed.  “There isn’t room for both of us,” he said.  “And I wasn’t exactly prepared for guests…”

 

“No need to worry,” Jensen said, and peeled his shirt over his head.  Instantly, Jared looked away, blushing even though he wasn’t sure why.  “Calm down,” came Jensen’s voice, mild and placid in a way that meant he was probably laughing at Jared.  “I’m just not going to sleep on the floor in _this_ form.”

 

“Oh,” Jared got out and his hands fisted in his bedsheets.  Werefoxes were not the only ones who could shift shapes; kitsunes could also return to their natural form.  It was rare for them to ever shift, however, just as it was rare for ‘foxes.  It was yet another taboo.  The fact that Jensen would shift in front of a stranger— “Do you want me to shift too?”

 

“If you did, we could easily share the bed,” Jensen stated, not directly answering his question.  It seemed like a dare.  Setting his shoulders, Jared pulled his shirt off, then shimmied his pants and underwear down.  Without looking behind him, he let his body shift.

 

It had been nearly a year since he’d been in fox form and there was something freeing about it.  He shook out his fur—a very dark russet red—and leapt onto the bed.  Another creature was already settled there, golden fur covering his entire body and eight tails wrapped around him.  He blinked lazily at Jared with emerald eyes and then tapped his paw against the bed.  Jared took that as an invitation to settle in and sleep so they could forget all about this in the morning.  He was certainly more than weary enough to do so.

 

 

Laying down, Jared kept Jensen in his sights.  As his eyes began to droop closed, the last thing he saw was gold tails waving as if the kitsune was luring himself to sleep.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Jared.”

 

Compared to the hazy world of his dreams, the word was sharp and clear.  A hand came down and covered the fur on his back.  Jared shuddered and leaned into it.  He hadn’t been petted since he and Meg had been kids.  They’d curled up together some nights, when she had woken up with nightmares and their mom had been too exhausted to deal with it.  In order to fit into the same bed, Jared had shifted into his fox form and soothed her by curling close and letting her cry into his fur.

 

“Jared,” the voice repeated, and it was very distinctly not Meg.  Yawning, Jared forced his eyes open, and immediately bristled when he saw green eyes staring down at him.  He jerked out from under the kitsune’s hand, suddenly feeling violated.  No one had ever touched him in that form before that wasn’t a close friend or family.  What had he been thinking, shifting and sharing his bed with Jensen like that?  He’d only known the kitsune one day, and he was a _kitsune_.  Jared couldn’t trust him.  No doubt Jensen had only shifted in order to make Jared feel like he had to do so.  It had— _had_ —to be part of some plan, some awful thing that—

 

“Stop panicking,” Jensen said firmly.  “I had to wake you up _somehow_.  We need to get moving.  There’s been another murder.”

 

Another murder.  Shit.

 

Instantly, Jared pulled himself together and shifted, not caring that he would be naked in front of a strange man.  At the same time, he was relieved when Jensen politely turned his back.  “Where was it?” He croaked, vocal chords not used to their human shape anymore.  “Should we check the hole in the wall first?”

 

Jensen shook his head as he rolled his sleeves up.  He was wearing a white button-down and charcoal grey slacks that clung to his ass and thighs.  Jared tried not to think about _just_ how well they fit.  “The murder was committed in the victim’s house in Forest District.”

 

Jared dug through the drawers of the cabinet that doubled as Jared’s wardrobe and the stand for their TV.  He pulled on a pair of briefs and then strode over to the hall closet to pull out one of his five suits.  Each weekend, he had to go and get them dry-cleaned, but he couldn’t afford to buy more, unless he wanted to get the _really_ cheap ones.

 

He popped in a piece of gum instead of brushing his teeth because he hadn’t eaten anything anyway, and then turned to Jensen.  “The bus isn’t going to get us there very fast,” he said.  “We’ll need someone to pick us up once we’re out of Void.”

 

Jensen quirked an eyebrow at him, clearly amused.  “Yes, I know.  Detective Hodge will be picking us up just inside the border of Mountain District.”  His eyes skated down Jared’s body and then seemed to catch on something.  “You’ve forgotten something,” he said, and it almost sounded like there was a tinge of regret in his voice.  When Jared looked down at himself, trying to see what he’d managed to miss, Jensen gestured to his right wrist.  “Your cuff,” he said unnecessarily.

 

For a moment, Jared stood stock-still.  It had been years since he’d forgotten his cuff, mostly because he didn’t ever take it off.  It must have fallen off when he’d shifted the previous night. When he removed it to shower or exercise, he could still feel its presence like some kind of phantom touch.  The fact that he hadn’t _noticed_ its absence was… disturbing, for lack of a better word.

 

Moving jerkily, he snatched it up from beside the couch bed on the floor and clumsily re-clasped it around his wrist.  When he checked, he saw that Jensen’s was on as well, although it was black and white like Jared’s, instead of pure white and studded like it should be.  Jensen hadn’t even forgotten to hold up his false identity, but Jared had forgotten that he needed a cuff at all.  How embarrassing.

 

The bus was scheduled to arrive in only a few minutes, so they jogged down the street to get to the stop.  By Jared’s estimate, they’d only gotten a few hours of sleep; it was only a couple of hours after midnight and everyone decent was asleep.  That still meant far too many people in Void were awake.  For a second, Jared thought he caught a glimpse of someone tailing them, but then he shook it off.  Even if someone was following them, they wouldn’t be able to follow the bus on foot.

 

It was too much to hope Jensen hadn’t caught sight of their tail as well though.  As soon as they stopped at the bus stop, he pushed his hands into his suit pants pockets and said casually, “do people normally follow you around when you go to the bus?”

 

“People here don’t like strangers,” Jared said in explanation.  He didn’t bother elaborating, but he did casually glance around at their surroundings, to see if he could get a better look at whoever was spying on them.

 

“Scrawny kid, dark hair,” Jensen told him, and Jared rolled his eyes.  Of course Jensen had managed to see more than he had.  “If it wasn’t for the fact that he was just someone’s lackey, I’d be tempted to investigate.”

 

“Everyone here is someone’s lackey,” Jared said wryly as the bus pulled up.

 

He half-hoped that the sound of the creaky vehicle had drowned out his voice, but he was quickly disappointed when Jensen sat down next to him and asked, “whose lackey are you, then?”  He was looking at Jared directly, eyes catching at his own.

 

Uncomfortable, Jared shrugged.  “The chief’s, I guess.  I’m not working for one of the gangs, if that’s what you’re asking.”

 

Jensen made a soft chiding sound with a click of his teeth and tongue.  “Hardly.  You’re far too smart for them to want you.  Gang leaders like mindless followers, not the sort of man who can analyze a crime scene better than kitsunes with far more education can.”

 

Jared flushed a bit at that and he turned his head to stare outside instead of looking at Jensen.  “They were off their game,” he said gruffly.  “And they’re not as naturally suspicious.  They’ll prove themselves this time, I’m sure.”

 

“We’ll see,” Jensen said, sounding like he really didn’t think there was any chance of it.  “Some people have it, and some don’t, Jared.  The fact of the matter is that you have far more natural talent than any of those two.”

 

“How would you know?” Jared asked snappishly, meeting his own glare in the reflecting glass.  He could see a vague shadow of Jensen’s shape in the window as well, but he focused on his own image, the high slant of his cheekbones and the downward curve of his thin lips.  “You’ve only known me for a day—less!  I don’t understand—”

 

“I’m good at what I do,” Jensen interrupted him clearly, confidently.  “I misjudged you a bit at first.  I thought you’d hold too much of a grudge against my kind to be of any use.  But, that said, I know a natural gift when I see it.”  The kitsune’s blurry reflection shifted and resettled as Jensen crossed his legs and turned his head to look forwards.  He seemed content now that he’d said his piece, and Jared knew any further words he said on the topic would fall on deaf ears.

 

He gritted his teeth and leaned his forehead against the cool glass for a minute.  He focused on taking in deep, full breaths, then letting them back out.  He only realized he had closed his eyes when he opened them again to speak.  “So.  Who’s the vic and how are they so sure it relates to our case?”

 

In the window, Jensen’s fingers drummed slowly and deliberately against his knee.  “The victim is Amanda Tapping.  She was Gauthier’s fiancée and also an _extremely_ influential member of the Inari Forces.  It would be hard to believe the murders weren’t connected, even without the fact that her throat was slashed in just the same manner as Gauthier’s.”

 

“That is pretty convincing.”  Jared was already running through lists of things they’d need to check in his mind.  “Do you know if Chad has already been to the scene?”

 

Jensen didn’t look at him, but something in his jaw rippled, like the mention of Chad was distasteful to him.  “Detective Murray is already at the scene,” he said coolly.  Jared hadn’t realized how much Jensen had loosened up while in Void with Jared until he was pulling himself back into the cold, removed persona he’d demonstrated the previous day in the department.  “I’ve instructed him to wait outside the crime scene until we arrive.  I don’t want anyone getting within a hundred feet of the body until we’re there.  Who knows what those incompetent fools could mess up?”

 

Jared didn’t bother arguing in his friend’s defense.  He was pretty sure that, to Jensen’s finicky mind, almost everyone other than the kitsune himself was incompetent.  Instead, he said, “At least we can completely remove Meg from suspicion.  Unless no one checked on Tapping after dinner yesterday, she had to have been murdered later, and there’s no way Meg could have gotten from Void to Forest and back in the amount of time that leaves.”

 

Jensen’s fingers halted their dance on his knee.  “Indeed, it does completely clear Meg.”  He paused, head tilted to the side, clearly thinking on the matter.  “What time does your sister normally go to sleep?”

 

“Um…”  Jared’s forehead wrinkled in confusion as he answered, “Around ten, at least on school nights.  She can’t stand not having a full ten hours of sleep.”

 

“And you were in with her last night until eleven or so,” Jensen said, nodding to himself.  His focus seemed to be turned inwards.  “Then again…”

 

Jared’s eyes narrowed.  “You don’t think Meg did it, do you?”  He _knew_ his sister hadn’t, but Jensen was the kitsune, the government official and the authority in this situation.  One word from him could condemn Meg, guilty or not.

 

“No, I don’t.”  Even though he’d responded, Jensen didn’t seem to be paying much more attention to Jared than he had before.  “I don’t at all.  I just think that, perhaps, we should keep quiet about the fact that we _are_ sure Meg didn’t do anything.  I’m still very interested in finding out how that scrap of her clothing got to the hole in the wall yesterday.”

 

Jared had completely forgotten about the scent-drenched cloth.  He swallowed.  “Right.  Someone could be trying to frame her.”

 

“Indeed.”  Jensen turned his head slightly in Jared’s direction, eyes glinting.  “It would be… interesting to see where the killer tries to lead us while they think we’re still following.  So.  Don’t tell anyone.”

 

“And you won’t tell anyone either?” Jared asked, although it was really more of a demand.  He didn’t want the DKPD’s eyes on Meg, even Jensen _did_ believe she wasn’t guilty.

 

Jensen snorted, like the idea was completely preposterous and beneath him.  “ _Please_.  Such matters are better played close to the vest, even if there are intelligent people around.  Even more so when there _aren’t_.”

 

Shaking his head, Jared’s lips quirked slightly upwards at Jensen’s haughty attitude.  He tried to suppress his smile, because Jensen looking down on people was supposed to be disgusting, not endearing.  It was supposed to remind him of why he hated kitsunes in general, except for the fact that Jensen was so indiscriminate with his superiority.  He’d placed Jared, a werefox, above almost the entire DKPD.  Maybe that was what true equality was like, Jared thought to himself with more than a little amusement; everyone looking down on each other regardless of what species they were.

 

The bus jolted to a halt in Mountain and Jensen hurried Jared off before the waystation attendant even had time to check that they were eligible to enter the district.  Since Aldis was waiting right there, it didn’t matter much anyway.  “Morning,” he huffed to them, and handed over two—blissfully still warm—cups of coffee.  Jensen took to his coffee with more enthusiasm than Jared had seen him display for anything except solving Gauthier’s murder; in fact, he was so enthusiastic that Jared blushed a bit upon hearing his grateful groan.  He quickly climbed into the back of the police car and sat behind the driver’s seat before he could think too much about exactly how he felt about those noises.

 

For the first few minutes of the ride, Aldis tried to engage Jared and Jensen in innocent small talk, but Jensen looked disgusted by the very notion and Jared was more than content to sit quietly and drink his coffee.  Aldis gave up without much fuss and just turned up the police radio a bit so they could keep appraised of anything else that might happen.

 

Tapping’s house was nowhere near as elaborate as Gauthier’s had been, but it was still fairly distinguished looking.  The entry to the spacious two-story house cast the sound of their footsteps back at them unnervingly as they walked up the stairs and into what was apparently Tapping’s study.

 

“Definitely the same people,” Jared muttered as soon as they entered the room.  The same four claw marks marred Tapping’s throat.  She was seated in a chair, the same as Gauthier had been, deliberately staged in the middle of the room.  The absence of scent that Jared had noticed before was not present, however.  Instead, the room smelled overwhelmingly of flowers, like someone had bought several bottles of perfume and just emptied them out.  Given the stains on the carpet in several places, Jared thought that scenario wasn’t unlikely.

 

“Jared,” Jensen said softly.  “Get closer to the body and see if you can scent anything else.”  Jensen’s eyes were going a bit faraway again, like they had on the bus and, previously, at the hole when he’d used magic.  Jared didn’t know what he was planning to do, unless the walls counted enough as wood for him to be able to watch through their metaphorical eyes.

 

It was only when Aldis cleared his throat from his place behind them in the doorway that Jared realized he’d been staring at Jensen instead of doing his job.  Shaking his head shortly, Jared moved forward, careful not to step in any of the victim’s blood as he crouched in front of her body and took a deep breath.

 

He was surprised to find that he _could_ smell her body, as well as the metallic scent of her blood.  That hadn’t been disguised at all.  He had the feeling it was because the killers had become that much more efficient; they’d probably committed the murder with enough speed that their scent in the room would minimal—and thus easily drowned out—and hadn’t touched the victim enough to leave a scent on her either.

 

“No scent magic this time,” he announced.  “I can smell her just fine.  Lots of fear on her, but, once again, no sign of a struggle.”  Her perfectly manicured nails weren’t even broken.  “They must have gotten her into this chair without touching her.  There’s no scent of the assailants on her.”

 

“Yes, there’s been magic used to hold her,” Jensen confirmed, coming to crouch by Jared.  He gestured to the area around her midsection and the skin on her legs just below her knees.  “Two bands, holding her to the chair here and here.  And another band, to keep her from trying to hide her neck.”

 

Jared could almost feel Aldis startle behind him.  “I couldn’t feel any magic earlier when I checked.  How—”

 

“Try again,” Jensen instructed mildly, as he held his hand out over the blood.  “Try again and really _focus_ on what you feel.”

 

Jared looked over his shoulder to see Aldis, eyes closed and frowning.  Then, suddenly, he gasped.  “God!  It feels like…  If I hadn’t been focusing so intently, I wouldn’t have noticed it.”  He opened his eyes and looked at Jared in clear surprise.  “The magic didn’t want me to see it.  It kept trying to turn me away.  I still couldn’t get a good glimpse of it.”

 

“It’s like looking out of the corner of your eyes,” Jensen said.  “You can almost see it, but can’t quite.”  He jerked his hand back from above the blood.  “Damn it,” he cursed lowly, rubbing his hands together as if he wanted to erase the feeling.  “Nothing new.  It was too dark, and a bad angle.  I got small, female, and brown hair again, but not much else.”

 

“At least we can confirm small?” Jared offered.

 

“That,” Jensen agreed, “and now I know what the kitsune’s magic looks like.  I know what type he is too.”

 

“He?” came a new voice from the door.  Jared looked back to see Chad had finally appeared from wherever he’d been hiding himself.  “You think the kitsune is a he?”

 

“I know he is,” Jensen said confidently, sliding smoothly to his feet.  “I got a slight glimpse of him too.  Only good enough to know he was male and of average height, but I supposed I shouldn’t get too discouraged.”  He held a hand down to Jared, and when Jared took it, he was surprised at the strength in the kitsune’s grip.  “Besides, if I see his magic again, I’ll know him.”

 

“You got that good of a glimpse?” Aldis asked, and he sounded completely in awe.  Jared rolled his eyes where none of them could see him.  “I couldn’t even make out type!”

 

To his credit, Jensen didn’t make any comments about how much more powerful he was than Aldis.  Instead, he simply said, “it takes a lot of practice” before moving on.  “He’s a Lightning kitsune, which luckily narrows things down a bit, as Lightning kitsune aren’t that common.  We should get a list from the city and see if Jared can identify any as the type of kitsune that might spend time with small, dark-haired werefoxes.”

 

It was a good plan, and much more than they’d had before, but Chad looked dubious.  “We could do that,” he agreed, although he sounded like he was doing anything _but_ agreeing.  “Or we could take a look at these threatening letters that Tapping has been receiving for the past week.” He held them up in a gloved hand and the scent nearly assaulted Jared.  _Meg’s_ scent.

 

He darted a quick glance at Jensen, but he looked as cool and collected as ever.  Jared knew better by now, however.  There was no way Jensen could have missed that, even if his nose wasn’t quite as sharp as Jared’s.  Still, he pretty much brushed Chad off.  “Bag them and get them to fingerprinting by all means,” he said imperiously.  “We can look at them once we ascertain if they have any actual data.”

 

Chad looked like he was about to argue, and then seemed to remember that Jensen was the _General_ and he really _couldn’t_.  He snapped his mouth shut with an audible click and a sullen glare.  “Fine,” he nearly spat and stomped away from the room once more.

 

Clearly dismissing the entire thing, Jensen turned to Aldis again.  “When was the last time Tapping was seen alive?”

 

“Around eight last evening,” Aldis answered promptly.  “That’s when she got home.  She’d been at the Gauthiers’ house in Heaven, discussing the previous victim’s funeral and will.  She came back here afterwards and dismissed her butler as soon as she got in.”

 

“Hmmm…” Jensen hummed contemplatively.  His eyes flashed to Jared momentarily, and then he said, “Aldis, perhaps you should go check her car.  We know that the perp has been able to get into Heaven District before.  Perhaps she targeted Tapping there and managed to hitch a ride back unbeknownst to her future victim.”

 

“Done and done,” Aldis said cheerfully and then left.

 

Jensen stared after him for a minute and then looked at Jared, eyes that intense blazing green once more.  “You need to call Meg,” he said.  “Those letters were drenched in her scent, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find her fingerprints are on them either.  We need to find out if she actually sent them and, if so, to whom.”

 

Jared nodded in complete agreement, then hesitated.  “I don’t have a phone.”

 

Jensen didn’t roll his eyes or sneer.  Instead, he merely tossed his phone over.  “Go outside and make sure no one can hear you.”

 

Jared got some odd looks as he exited the Tapping house, but he was sure they’d figure Jensen had gotten sick of him and kicked him out or whatever.  It was easy to make sure no one was around as he dialed Meg’s number.

 

The previous evening must really have worried her, because she picked up after one ring.  “Who is this?” She asked warily.

 

“It’s me,” Jared assured her, and could practically _feel_ her relaxing on the other end of the line.  “Where are you?”

 

“Um, home.”  She sounded a bit ashamed of it.  “You know I don’t normally miss class… but I just couldn’t go today.  I didn’t feel like myself at all.”

 

Jared was actually relieved.  If Meg wasn’t around her radical friends, that was probably a good thing for now.  “Is Mom home with you?” He asked next.

 

“Yeah.  Genevieve is over too.”

 

Moments like these made Jared want to take a minute and slam his head against the wall.  He couldn’t chance Genevieve overhearing his phone conversation and telling her husband.  Bad enough that she was in their house, which Jared hadn’t even thought to ensure smelled nothing like kitsune.  Hopefully Jensen’s spells had held in his sleep and kept everything smelling innocuous.  “Look,” he said as calmly as he could.  “I really need to talk to you in private, so…”

 

“ _Oh_.  Sure.”  There was some slight scuffling on the other end, and Jared could hear a door closing behind Meg.  Then, a rushing sound came through the receiver, and Jared frowned for a moment before realizing that Meg had retreated to the bathroom and had thought to use the water to not only signal that the conversation was off-limits, but also make it harder to hear.  “What’s up?” She asked, the water still on and her voice a low whisper.

 

“Meg, I’m gonna ask you some things and I _need_ you to tell me the truth,” Jared said as intently as he could, hoping she would understand the necessity of this.  “There’s been another murder.  We found a bunch of hate-mail at the victim’s house and it was practically _doused_ in your scent.  Did you write or send any mail like that?”

 

“Hate-mail?!” Meg squeaked.  “No way in hell!  I mean, sometimes I write anonymous letters to the mayor and the kitsune paper about reform and stuff, but it’s hardly _hate_ mail—”

 

Jared took in a deep breath, knowing that the kitsune definition of hate-mail would probably consist of anything that was even _slightly_ anti-kitsune.  “So, you have sent letters,” he confirmed as mildly as he could.  “How recently did you send the last one?  And did you take any precautions to ensure you couldn’t be identified by them?”

 

“I wore gloves and stuff,” she told him earnestly.  “And I tried not to touch them more than I had to.  Didn’t even lick the envelopes closed—I used stickers instead.”  She paused.  “I haven’t sent one for a while, though.  Ever since I got involved in the protests.”  She paused.  “So.  A month or two.”

 

The scent on the letters had been far too fresh for that.  That meant someone had to have gotten ahold of something with Meg’s scent and rubbed it against the letters until they smelled of her.  Given that they’d already found a scrap of her clothing at the hole in the wall, it didn’t seem unlikely.  “Okay, Meg, last question: Has any of your stuff gone missing lately?  If so, where?”

 

She didn’t even tease him about that being two questions.  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that this morning, since you found that scrap of stuff.  I went through my closet and I can’t find my black v-neck.  But I don’t know where I lost it.  I had it at least a week ago.”

 

“Thanks, Meg,” Jared said.  Their conversation hadn’t really been _that_ helpful, but it was better than nothing.

 

He was about to say his goodbyes and hang up when she said, “wait!  Jared, there’s something else.”

 

She hesitated, clearly nervous.  Trying to restrain his worry, he urged her on, “it’s okay, Meg.  You can tell me.”

 

He could hear her swallow, even over the line.  “Look, I was supposed to go out and do this thing last night, okay?  Me and a whole bunch of other people were going to meet up and protest by Heaven’s gates because of who they were considering to take over as supervisor of Void.”

 

She paused again and Jared was struck by a sudden—and awful—flash of inspiration.  “Please tell me that person was _not_ Amanda Tapping.”

 

“Uh,” Meg giggled nervously, clearly more than a little hysterical.  “Sorry?  Look, I didn’t go,” she insisted, voice turning more earnest.  “I got freaked out about the Jensen thing and didn’t go.  But I thought you should know… I mean, if someone’s trying to… to _frame_ me, they might have known that, and planned it so the murder would coincide with the protest.”

 

Jared rubbed his forehead.  It _was_ a good idea, but… “The protest would give you an alibi though.”

 

“Not really,” Meg said slowly.  “It’s a protest.  It’s pretty active, and it would have been night anyway.  It’s easy to lose track of people.  Even if I had gone and my friends had seen me, we might not have seen each other again for hours.”

 

“Fuck,” Jared cursed vehemently.  “No more protests until this is over,” he told Meg firmly.  “I get that you don’t want to give up your beliefs or whatever, but if someone _is_ trying to frame you—”

 

“Believe me, I am staying out of that shit until you and Jensen have caught the killer,” Meg hurriedly assured him, thankfully sounding completely honest.  “This whole thing is freaking me out.”

 

“You’re not the only one,” Jared told her.  “Keep Mom at home with you today, okay?  And stay safe.”

 

“I will,” she promised.  “You too.”

 

Jared hung up after that.  His conversation with Meg had not settled his nerves at all.  If anything, his worries were mounting.  Despite the fact that Jensen had confirmed that the werefox they were looking for was much smaller than Meg, someone seemed determined to make sure she took the fall.  If they were close enough to her to know things about her, like protests she might attend, it was not a good sign.  He remembered Sam warning him about the university kids; he’d laughed her off then, but he wasn’t laughing now.  They seemed the most likely perpetrators; they had access to the protest schedule and his sister’s clothing, to some extent, although he didn’t want to think about how one of them might have gotten her t-shirt.

 

He waited outside the house until Jensen came out, stride slow but deliberate.  He held up his hand and a keychain flashed.  “I’ve commandeered the detectives’ car for now.  They’re going to catch a ride back with some of the others.”

 

A day ago, the idea of being alone in a car with Jensen would have terrified him.  Now, Jared felt something in him relax with the knowledge that he’d be able to talk to Jensen privately sooner rather than later.  “That’s not going to endear you to Chad, you know,” he told Jensen, even as he slid into the passenger with a happy smile he couldn’t quite contain.

 

“Do I look like I give two shits about Detective Murray’s opinion of me?” Jensen asked, completely deadpan, as he put the car into drive.  “Now tell me what your sister said.”

 

Quickly, Jared summarized the conversation he had had with Meg.  Jensen didn’t visibly react, but simply kept driving.  His driving was just as clean and mechanical as every other bit of his work persona; he drove, Jared thought, like people drove in car commercials—too perfect to be real.  When Jared was done and had expressed his opinion about the university radicals, Jensen tutted.  “Have you already forgotten, Jared?  This person, whoever they are, is allied with a kitsune.  Even if one of these radicals was _willing_ to work with a kitsune, how would they even _meet_ one?”  Jensen shook his head.  “No, we focused on Void for a reason.  It’s more likely that a kitsune and a ‘fox would meet there.”

 

“What if…”  Jared paused, trying to put his thoughts together.  “Look, it doesn’t all fit.  How are my sister, this ‘fox, and this ‘tsune related?  My sister and the ‘fox we can make fit at the expense of the ‘tsune.  If we connect the ‘tsune and the ‘fox via something like prostitution, then my sister doesn’t fit in.”  He gestured while he talked, something he’d mostly trained himself out of, but in particularly stressful situations, it came back to him.  “Even the idea of prostitution doesn’t quite fit.  I mean, _why,_ then, did the ‘ _fox_ seem to take the lead on killing Gauthier?  Prostitutes aren’t normally known for their high political motives.”

 

Almost reluctantly, Jensen nodded shortly in agreement.  Slowly, he said, “Perhaps we should stop trying to connect the ‘fox and the kitsune to each other, and instead focus more on their relation to your sister.  She is the definite in this situation; we know her and where she goes, whereas we know almost nothing about these perps and their locations, except that the werefox most definitely was in Void before she murdered Gauthier.  The fact that we _do_ know about your sister can allow us to narrow down our field of suspects for the perps, and perhaps lead to finding one.”

 

“And finding one will likely find the other,” Jared finished.  It was a good idea.  “Do you want me to call Meg again?  Try and get a more detailed version of her schedule?”

 

“No, not yet.”  Jensen glanced over at him, and the corner of his mouth pulled up just a little bit.  “So far, you and I seem to be getting along just fine on our own.”

 

That much was true.  In fact, it was a little _too_ true for Jared’s comfort.  He almost would have preferred if they hadn’t been able to work together so well.  It was getting continually harder to remember that, regardless of the fact that they were on the same side now, Jensen was the enemy.

 

*

 

Back at the DKPD station, Jensen’s entrance instantly sent the other officers into a flurry.  He demanded several lists—one of which was a list of all female werefoxes under five-five that lived in Dallas, to Jared’s amusement—and then marched down to the morgue to instruct the coroner on exactly what information he wanted and to impress on her just how _fast_ he wanted it.  He left Jared on the top floor after announcing loudly that all the information he’d demanded was to go immediately to Jared.  Even though his nerves were still strung tight from his phone call with Meg, Jared couldn’t help smirking a bit at all the surprised and slightly frightened glances the others kept sending him.  Even the detectives seemed wary.

 

The chief, however, was not put off.  The instant Jensen left the room, he stormed out of his office and planted himself in front of Chad’s desk, where Jared was sitting.  “Padalecki,” he snarled, and his glowing eyes were a testament to exactly how furious he was.  If ‘foxes were careful not to half-shift, kitsunes were even more so, partially because a kitsune half-shift often ended in tails and ears popping into existence.  Jared was pretty sure no one liked tails ripping through their pants.

 

He could tell that Pileggi was only a few moments away from simply letting loose.  “How _dare_ you lounge about there like you are somehow superior to us?” He hissed, and Jared could imagine his tails whipping back and forth in anger.  He wondered if they would be golden, like Jensen’s.  No, maybe kitsune were different colors, just like ‘foxes.  Yes, Pileggi was probably some ugly, muddled brown, nothing like Jensen’s brilliant, shining coat—

 

Jared dug his nails into his palms, forcing himself to focus on the police chief instead of daydreaming about Jensen’s tails.  He looked straight up at the chief, setting his chin and refusing to back down the way he might have just days ago.  “I’m not _lounging about,_ sir.  Jensen told me to sit here and begin looking over the information he asked for as soon as it came in.  That’s what I’m doing.”

 

“Asked _you_ —!” Pileggi sputtered, spittle flying from his lips as he bit out the angry words.  “Why, for all we know, you’re the one that’s been killing people!  You’re a ‘ _fox_ after all, and we all know that your whole species is nothing more than murderous _mongrels_ —”

 

“Last I checked, Jared was neither female nor under five-five,” Jensen cut in coolly as he swept back into the room.  He whisked by Pileggi without any further sign of acknowledgment before taking his place next to Jared.  “Now, if you don’t mind,” he continued without looking up, “we have a great deal of work to do.”

 

Obviously expecting his unspoken order to be promptly heeded, Jensen pulled out the information they’d been looking over the previous day, presumably since the new lists he’d ordered had yet to arrive.  Pileggi gaped at him for a moment, but he didn’t leave.  Instead, he tried once more, “Jensen, while I am glad Padalecki has been able to help you thus far, you must realize that we have far more capable people to aid you in these sorts of matters.  It is beneath you to consort with a ‘fox in this way—”

 

Jensen held up a finger, and Pileggi stopped speaking so fast that it was like someone had slapped their hand over his mouth.  Scribbling something onto a post-it note, Jensen sighed, then looked up at the chief.  “Chief Pileggi,” he said calmly, “It is beneath _you_ to be harassing and threatening a consultant on your staff.  One would almost think you felt threatened by him.”  Someone in the background tittered nervously, and Jensen tilted his head to the side with a tight, cruel smile.  “Perhaps you had better get back to your other work?”

 

This time, Pileggi had no option but to nod jerkily and comply.  He strode stiffly back to his office, and his already undignified retreat was further marred when he managed to trip over his own shoelace.  There was more laughter, and the man’s ears were a harsh, angry red as he slammed the door of his office closed behind him.  For a second, Jensen’s lips curled up smugly, before his features smoothed back out in utter expressionlessness.

 

Jared didn’t know what to say, so he just shook his head with a snort.  A minute later, an officer appeared with the records they had requested.  Jensen set some aside—“The other detectives need _something_ to do”—and spread the others between himself and Jared.  “Your sister spends all of her time in Void or Wind District,” he said in an undertone, as if Jared didn’t already know that.  “These are the records for all the waystations leading into Wind and Void for the past two months.  If the kitsune has met her, then he should hopefully be on these records.”

 

“And we can narrow down quite a bit by type,” Jared commented, leafing through the heavy records.  “They only document species, though, not type.”

 

Jensen tugged over another stapled bunch of papers.  “I had them make three copies of all the Lightning kitsune currently living in Dallas, two for each of us and one for the detectives.  We’ll have to cross-check and see if the names match up.”

 

“Great,” Jared groaned, because five lists were fairly thick.  “You _do_ realize this will take forever, right?”

 

“If you have something better to do…”  Jensen trailed off delicately.  Jared sighed, because, really, he had a point.  There wasn’t much else they could do until they had more information.  Jared didn’t even bother playing up his suffering; he just reached out, snagged one of the lists, and got to work.

 

It was even more slow-going than Jared had originally expected.  By the time Aldis and Chad arrived back at the station, he’d barely gotten through one day of records.  He tried to stay focused, even as Jensen ordered Chad and Aldis to look through the lists of male Lightning kitsunes and female, brunette, under five-five werefoxes for likely suspects.  Aldis, who still seemed to be in “worship-Jensen” mode, didn’t object a bit, although Jared also suspected that was because Aldis was a good man who would have a hard time objecting to anything that might help find a murder.

 

Chad, on the other hand, wouldn’t stop _bitching_.  After about ten minutes of it, Jared got fed-up and threw his pencil at his friend.  He managed to hit Chad right in the forehead.  When his friend looked up, about to get indignant, Jared scowled fiercely at him.  “ _Dude_ , you bitching about how much you _don’t_ want to do this is distracting me from going through _my_ list, which I _also_ don’t really want to do.  So shut the fuck up.”

 

Instantly, Chad started pouting, and his pouting only got worse when Aldis agreed, “yeah, man, it’s really irritating.”

 

“You all suck,” he declared petulantly, but mercifully, he shut up.

 

They worked through the sun rising and breakfast, which was thankfully brought to them by someone.  Jared got crumbs all over his papers, which offended Jensen on a _deep_ level, if the looks he gave the muffin Jared was eating were any indication.  In fact, it was almost noon by the time there was a stop for anything besides using the bathroom.

 

“Ah-ha!” Chad let out triumphantly.  Jared jumped in his chair; he’d been so absorbed with his work that he’d almost forgotten there were other people around.  When he looked over at Chad, he found him grinning widely.  “Guys, I think I might have got ‘em!”

 

Jensen looked up at that, eyes narrowing.  “What do you have?” He barked out.

 

For once, Chad didn’t glare at the other kitsune.  Instead, he was almost eager as he moved over to the desk Jared and Jensen were sharing, spreading his evidence out over their own papers.  “Look, there’s this girl, name’s Sandra McCoy.  Werefox, brunette, five-four.  She used to work in the house of this guy, who happens to be a Lightning kitsune.  Name’s Eric Johnson.  I called his house and _apparently,_ his wife found ‘em fucking, so she had the girl kicked out and blacklisted.”

 

“Wait.”  Jared flipped back through his papers.  “Yep, he’s been over to Void from Mountain District.  Multiple times within the past two months.”

 

Chad snapped his fingers, like he’d just figured something out.  “What if the girl’s started working at one of the brothels and he’s going to visit her?”

 

“That’s a pretty big assumption,” Jensen murmured, looking at the information Chad had laid out in front of them.  “After all, ‘tsunes who cheat on their wives aren’t likely to keep going to the same girl.  It is likely that he’s frequenting Void for sex, however.”

 

“If he’s used to having it on tap and has suddenly been deprived?  Yeah,” Jared agreed, running a hand through his hair.  “We need to see if they’re still connected, though.  If they are…”

 

“Then they could be our couple!” Chad chirped happily.  “I know, I know, there’s no other evidence, but we have her DNA and Jensen knows what his magic looks like.  With just those things, we can confirm everything.”

 

Jensen nodded absently.  Jared noticed his enthusiasm was visibly reduced.  After all, neither of the two really had any real connection to Meg, and they’d both agreed that she was the key.  Jared nudged the ‘tsune gently.  “Should I make some calls?” He asked, and the area around him quieted a bit.

 

Jensen looked at him inscrutably for a moment.  “Will they be honest?” He asked in return.

 

“As long as I don’t ask if they’re doing anything illegal.”  Jared shrugged.  “I can’t ask about customers either, but I can ask about their employees.  Some of them might cooperate better than others, but they all know not to get on the wrong side of the law.”  Besides, he might have warned them about his work with the DKPD, but they still understood that they had to give _some_ information, or else it would be too suspicious.

 

Nodding again, Jensen waved his hand in assent.  “Go ahead.  Make your calls.”  He looked around at the rest of their workers with narrowed eyes.  “And that doesn’t mean the _rest_ of you are allowed to slack off!”

 

Luckily, the suggestion that they _might_ actually find the culprits had given people new life.  They were moving faster and more earnestly than before as Jared picked up the phone and began to dial the first number he’d ever learned.

 

Sam picked up the phone with a rustle of satin.  “Hello, this is Madame Sam’s,” she said throatily.  “What can I do for you?”

 

“Sam,” Jared said, leaning back in his chair and turning to look out the window.  He knew the others were watching him out of the corner of their eyes and he didn’t want to give them any more than he had to.  “It’s Jared Padalecki.”

 

“Oh,” she said, clearly amused. “Is this an _official_ call?”

 

Jared couldn’t help smiling.  “Yes, ma’am, I’m sorry to say.  I’ve just got a few questions I have to ask you for the DKPD.”

 

“Well, you know me, Jared,” she said lightly.  “Anything for the fine men in blue of our fair city!”  He could see her, in his mind’s eye, waving her hands elegantly as she spoke.  “What do you need to know?”

 

Jared looked down at the paper in his hand, confirming the name.  “I was wondering if you had a girl working for you by the name of Sandra McCoy?”

 

There was brief silence on the other end of the line, and then Sam sighed.  “I hate to say it, but yes, I do.  I suppose I should warn her that the police want to see her?”

 

“ ‘Fraid so,” Jared agreed.  “You might also want to ready her customer records, unless you’d like us to get a warrant for those.”  He paused and added, hopefully encouragingly, “they might give her an alibi anyway.”

 

“I think I’d rather take the easy road, anyway, dear,” Sam said dryly.  “Goodness knows I don’t need the DKPD looking _too_ hard at my humble establishment.  Why, they might see where the wallpaper is peeling!”

 

Jared brought his hand up to cover his mouth, hiding his smile.  “Wouldn’t want them looking at your wallpaper, no.”  Trying to be more serious, he said, “don’t let her run, ma’am.  It wouldn’t be good for her.”

 

“I’ll make sure she’s here,” Sam promised.  “And I’ll have cookies ready for you and the other men when you arrive, how ‘bout that?”

 

“Sounds good,” Jared said with a roll of his eyes and hung up without further ado.  He spun his chair back around.  “I know where’s she’s working,” he told Jensen.  “Are we going to go check it out?”

 

“I think that’s best.”  Jensen looked oddly reluctant to leave his paperwork, even for the potential lead.  He gazed down at the desk for a few moments and then seemed to snap out of it.  “Yes, we should go now.  We’ll need Detectives Hodge and Murray with us, I think.  I need to maintain my disguise in Void.”

 

Jared had almost forgotten about Jensen’s disguise.  He frowned.  “You won’t be able to speak out like you’ll want to if you go in disguise.  They’ll think it’s weird that the tails aren’t making you shut up.”

 

Jensen raised his eyebrows.  “We _are_ supposed to be liaisons in ‘fox related matters, aren’t we?” He asked archly.  “I think dealing with ‘foxes would be when we _aren’t_ supposed to shut up.”

 

“That’s what you’d _think_ ,” Jared muttered, but didn’t comment any further.  He wouldn’t be able to talk Jensen out of it anyway.

 

 

*

 

 

It was strange driving down Brothel Block in the back of a cop car.  Jensen sat at his side, with Aldis and Chad in the front seat.  The elder detective looked supremely uncomfortable, while Chad merely looked kind of strangely excited, like he was going on some kind of crazy nature safari.  Jensen didn’t seem to react to the Block more than he did anything else, but Jared knew better by now.

 

Luckily, it was early enough in the morning that he knew Sam wouldn’t get pissy about them driving off customers.  The girls were getting ready for the day ahead at this point; their work wouldn’t start until after five, when all the tails started getting off work.  There’d be gossip, but unless they arrested Sandra, Jared doubted their visit would affect the number of visitors Sam had.

 

Aldis practically squared his shoulders before taking the lead as they entered Madame Sam’s.  Sam was seated at the front desk, as elaborately dressed as ever.  She had almost outdone herself, Jared thought.  She even had a silk fan out.  Jared couldn’t help shaking his head and snorting when he saw the tray of cookies on her desk.

 

She looked up at them when the door closed behind them and instantly grinned big and wide.  “Welcome, gentlemen,” she purred out, and Jared could practically _feel_ Aldis blushing.  “Hopefully I can be helpful while you’re here, in _any_ way you need.”

 

“Sam,” Jared chided gently, but she merely winked at him and blew him a kiss.

 

Aldis cleared his throat.  “Miss, uh, Ferris—”

 

“Call me Sam, please, dear.”

 

Aldis nearly choked on his own spit, and Jared decided that it was time to take over.  Fuck appearances.  “Sam,” he said firmly.  “Detectives Murray and Hodge need to speak to Ms. McCoy in a private room about a case they’re working on.

 

“But of course!”  Sam waved an airy hand.  “Alona!”  Her assistant came running out and Sam instructed her, “take these two gentlemen to speak to Sandy.  Please wait until they are done and then escort them back out here.”

 

“Yes ma’am,” Alona said with a curtsy, and ushered Chad and Aldis out of the room, to both of the kitsunes’ obvious bewilderment.

 

Jared listened to their retreating footsteps and only turned to Sam again when they had faded.  “We need to speak privately,” he told her.  “Could we go to your office?”

 

Her eyes darted to Jensen, who was standing admirably quietly at Jared’s side.  “Is your… _friend_ coming with us?” She asked, clearly suspicious.  Jared barely refrained from rolling his eyes.  No doubt Sam had already guessed _exactly_ who Jensen was; informed as she was, it couldn’t be too hard.

 

“Yes, he is,” Jared said, and watched her eyes narrow further.  She didn’t say anything else, however, just whisked around and led the way to her office.  She let both of them in and then firmly latched the door behind them.

 

Once the door was closed, she looked at Jensen dead-on.  “Mr. Ackles,” she said coolly.  “I would say it’s a delight, but…”

 

Jensen nodded at her, amusement quirking his lips up just the _slightest_ amount.  “Don’t worry, Ms. Ferris.  I understand the sentiment.”  He looked up at Jared.  “I suppose you think she might have more information?”

 

“If anyone knows something, it’s Sam,” Jared replied firmly.  Sam was watching the exchange between them with obvious interest.  “Aunt Sam, please sit down.”

 

Apparently the use of his nickname for her was enough to convince her that Jared really _did_ trust Jensen, and wasn’t just doing as ordered.  She swept behind her desk and seated herself.  Jared and Jensen immediately sat across from her as she pushed a few pieces of paper across the desk.  “This is Sandy’s schedule for the day of the murder,” she said, all business now.  “She had a busy night that night.  I included the names of the customers she spent time with as well, although I’d appreciate if you kept those quiet.”

 

Silently, Jensen pointed to a name on the list.  Eric Johnson, their suspect.  “It’s only an hour before the murder,” he said quietly, clearly addressing Jared..  “I doubt he had enough time to get over to Heaven, sneak into Gauthier’s mansion, and then help kill the man.”

 

“It’s not like you really thought they did it anyway,” Jared told him.  He’d seen the way Jensen had dismissed the suspects back at the station.  “You don’t have to act like you’re disappointed.”

 

There was a _slight_ eye roll.  “Just because I didn’t believe Ms McCoy and her former boss were our perps doesn’t mean I wasn’t hoping that they were.  It would have made things much easier.”  He drummed his fingers deliberately against the surface of Sam’s desk.  “Ms. Ferris,” he addressed Sam, and Jared noticed that Sam didn’t chime in and ask for him to call her Sam.  “I would assume, as a prominent brothel madame, that you have a fair sense of how things are going in Void?”

 

Arching one eyebrow, Sam nodded her head regally.  “I believe I do.”  Her eyes darted to Jared.  “Who do you think you’re looking for?”

 

“A small, dark-haired girl who has motive to kill Gauthier and might want to frame Meg for multiple murders,” Jared answered bluntly.  When Sam’s eyes widened, he continued earnestly, leaning over the desk a bit, “look, there’s been evidence found at two scenes of interest now that implicate Meg.  Luckily, Meg ducked out of something last night, and therefore she has an alibi for the second murder—”

 

“Second!” Sam squawked, but Jared didn’t pause.

 

“The point is, someone is trying to get my sister thrown in jail.  Someone close enough to her to know that she was planning on going to a protest last night.”  Jared stared, a bit desperately, into Sam’s wide brown eyes.  “If you can think of _anyone_ that might fit that description…”

 

Sam’s jaw worked several times, before she shut it deliberately.  She looked down at her hands, clearly thinking.  “Unfortunately, those that I can think of that might have motive for the murder would not hold the sort of grudge against Meg that you’re thinking of.”  She tapped a finger against her desk once before shaking her head and sighing in exasperation.  “In fact, I can’t think of a single person who would hate Meg enough to do that.  That may come from the kitsune side of the partnership.”  She looked back up at Jared with grave eyes.  “Your sister is not only a radical, but also an attractive female.  I know she has rejected kitsunes before.  You may want to ask her about those.”

 

“Can you give us a list of ‘foxes that fit our physical description and might have motive for the murders?” Jensen asked, squeezing Jared’s shoulder briefly before releasing him.

 

Sam’s eyes followed the movement, and she nodded slowly.  “One second.”  She whipped out a piece of scented pink paper and a gaudy pen.  She scribbled quickly and  handed Jensen a list about twelve names long.  She looked at Jared apologetically, and Jared only realized why when he looked over and saw the last name on the list—Genevieve Pellegrino.

 

When he looked up, Jensen was staring at him.  Jared wasn’t optimistic enough to think that Jensen hadn’t noticed the flash of pain that had crossed his face.  No doubt he’d get grilled about it later.  For now though, Jensen merely folded the paper into fourths and tucked it into his pocket.  “Thank you, ma’am,” he said and stood up.  “I’ll leave you with Jared for a moment.”  He looked down at Jared.  “I’ll be waiting in the foyer,” he told him, not threateningly, just as if he was making sure Jared knew he wasn’t going to leave without him.  He nodded at Sam, and then left the office.

 

As soon as the door slammed shut behind him, Sam was up and around the desk, gathering Jared into her arms.  “I’m so sorry, dear,” she murmured.  “Having your sister threatened like that…”  She drew back and ran a hand through his hair.  “Thank goodness she has an alibi and Ackles seems to believe you.”

 

“Yeah,” Jared said hoarsely, reaching down and grabbing Sam’s hands with his.  She rubbed her glove-covered fingers over the backs of his hands soothingly.  “Yeah, if he hadn’t been staying at my place, I don’t know where we’d be.”  He shook his head to dispel the idea from his head.  He didn’t want to be thinking about that.

 

Sam’s eyes narrowed a bit.  “Jared, dear,” she started, and then paused delicately.  “He’s not what I expected,” she stated.  “He treated you—and I as well—like we were people.  But don’t let that deceive you.  He’s still a tail, through and through.  He’s going to leave, and you’re going to be left the same way you were before.”

 

It was a harsh thing to say, but Jared understood the wisdom in it.  He couldn't get cocky thinking he’d be treated like this for the rest of his career.  Jensen would leave and Jared would go back to being the ‘fox consultant, to be ignored as often as possible, and jeered at when that wasn’t an option.  “Don’t worry, Aunt Sam,” he said.  “I’m not getting my hopes up for anything.”

 

“Good.  That said…”  Her eyes twinkled.  “If he makes an offer to sleep with you, _I_ wouldn’t turn him down.”

 

“Sam!” Jared squeaked, jerking his hands out of her grasp.  She laughed throatily as he flushed a no doubt bright and brilliant red.  “Weren’t you just saying that he was just like the rest of them?”

 

“Well, yes,” she said cheerfully.  “But, on the other hand, he’s quite tasty-looking.  I bet he’d be a good fuck too.  All that restrained power—”

 

“I’m leaving!” Jared burst out, and made for the door before she could embarrass him further.

 

She caught his wrist just before he made it out the door.  He turned back to see her looking fondly up at him.  “Take care, sweetheart,” she said, an echo of their last conversation.  “I’ll see if I can’t keep an eye on Meg too.  I don’t want you to have to worry.”

 

“Thank you,” Jared said simply, and leaned down to kiss her cheek.  She released him after that, and he hurried down to the foyer, trying to put the last part of their conversation out of his mind.

 

Aldis and Chad were already down there as well, looking highly disappointed.  “Nothing,” Chad told him glumly.  “She’s got an alibi and she doesn’t know anything anyway.  Total waste of time.”

 

“Sorry,” Jared said, knowing that it wasn’t really a _total_ waste of time, not with the list that was probably burning a hole in Jensen’s pocket.  “It was a really good lead though, man,” he said, remembering that his friend’s ego might need a boost.

 

“Too bad it wasn’t actually anything,” Chad sighed, but he bumped into Jared a little as they walked out of the building in a silent show of gratitude.

 

 

*

 

 

They went back to the DKPD and worked, but they weren’t able to make any other brilliant discoveries, partially because Jensen didn’t seem interested in looking at the list Sam had given him until later, when they weren’t in public.  Jared wasn’t sure exactly why, but he figured it was for the same reason that he’d ask Jared to keep quiet about the Meg thing; he wanted to look as out-of-the-loop as possible when it came to the case.  Jared also thought Jensen was probably a bit paranoid.  Even though he’d gotten on Jared’s case about not sharing information, he never seemed particularly inclined to share anything with anyone who wasn’t Jared.

 

Around five, Jensen sighed and stood up.  “You can leave,” he told Chad and Aldis.  “I know it’s a bit early, but we had an early start this morning.  We need to be well-rested if we want to catch these murderers, and we’re not making any progress right now.  Go home, eat well, and sleep.  We’ll reconvene tomorrow morning and see if we can find anything new with fresh eyes.”

 

Both of the detectives looked absurdly grateful for their reprieve.  They didn’t protest once; they simply packed up as quickly as they could and nearly shot out of the station.  Jensen took significantly more time, packing a briefcase full of information, which confirmed Jared’s suspicions that _they_ weren’t actually going to take a break.  He sighed, rubbing his forehead and trying to fight off the headache he could feel coming.  He wondered if Jensen realized that he actually _needed_ sleep too.

 

When they got onto the bus, Jensen deliberately took a seat away from other passengers.  Taking the hint, Jared slid in beside him and wasn’t surprised when Jensen unfolded the list.  “So,” Jensen said placidly, “who is Genevieve Pellegrino?”

 

Well, he certainly got straight to the point.  “She’s my ex-girlfriend,” Jared answered plainly.  “We dated for a couple years in high school.  I broke up with her when I joined the police academy and she ended up marrying Mark Pellegrino around a year later.”

 

“Mark Pellegrino, the suspected leader of the Nogitsunes?”  When Jared looked at him in obvious surprise, Jensen rolled his eyes.  “I _did_ do some research before coming out here.”  He arched a knowing eyebrow at Jared.  “So, I take that to mean he _is_ the leader?”

 

Jared didn’t bother answering, just blinked deliberately in Jensen’s direction.  Jensen looked at him with disappointment in return.  “I don’t _care_ about the gangs at the moment, Jared,” he said, clearly exasperated.  “What I care about is solving these murders, so stop acting like an idiot.”  He tapped Genevieve’s name on the paper.  “I suppose she has motive because of her husband, then.  Do you know about any of these other women?”

 

Taking a deep breath of relief, Jared looked over some of the others.  One by one, he pointed out potential connections; most were gang-based, but there were a few who had slightly different potential motives.  Jensen nodded along seriously, and wrote down the new names next to the old ones on Sam’s list.  Next to Sam’s flowery hand-writing, Jensen’s was stern, narrow letters tilted dangerously to the side, even though he too wrote in cursive.  Jared knew there were kitsunes who specialized in handwriting analysis and said they could make determinations about peoples’ personalities based on it.  Looking at the two disparate fonts on the yellow paper, Jared didn’t think analyzing handwriting was such a far stretch anymore.

 

Just before they entered Void’s border, Jensen looked down at the cuff on his wrist, which was still white with eight studs.  As Jared watched, he swept his other hand over it, probably looking to the rest of the world like he was adjusting it, but Jared could see the colors shifting and bleeding as the studs melted into the leather.  It took mere seconds, but Jared stared at it afterwards until Jensen sighed and shifted so it was out of sight.  “It’s just a simple illusion, Jared,” he murmured, looking out the window.  “Stop acting like you’ve never seen magic before.”

 

“Well, it isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence for me,” Jared grumbled, but he looked away.  Given how quickly Sam had picked up on his attraction to Jensen, he needed to focus more on _not_ staring at the ‘tsune.  Actually, he wasn’t entirely sure _how_ Sam had noticed, unless…

 

Damn, he was so used to the kitsunes’ dull sense of smell, which was only able to pick up on the barest details of personal scent, that he’d forgotten other ‘foxes could smell _pheromones_.  Shit.  He’d have to be especially careful around Meg, otherwise he’d be in for a lecture for sure.  Back when he’d been dating Gen, Meg had been constantly sniffing him and laughing at him.

 

It wasn’t exactly _polite_ to sniff out other peoples’ feelings through their scent, but close family was normally the exception to that, especially in Void.  He’d never even thought of sniffing Jensen and seeing if the kitsune reciprocated his attraction; he hadn’t even really thought about Jensen reciprocating at _all_ , actually, and now that he had, he wished he hadn’t.

 

They got off the bus at the same stop they’d gotten on that morning.  They’d made the loop all around the city of Dallas in one day, although part of that had been in a car.  Jared hadn’t ever done that before.  He certainly hadn’t ever been _licensed_ to do that before.

 

It was certainly more busy in the early evening than it had been in the early hours of the morning, but Jared still noticed nearly instantly, and he could tell Jensen had too.  They were being followed again.  As far as Jared could tell from his discreet glances, it was the same kid.  Whoever had assigned him to follow them either hadn’t thought much of their abilities or _wanted_ them to know they were being tailed, because the kid was seriously sloppy.  Sloppy enough that when Jensen turned into an alley instead of continuing towards Jared’s house, the kid followed them.

 

Sensing what Jensen wanted to do, Jared took the lead.  He wound through several alleys until much of the bustle was behind them, still in earshot, but not close.  Then, he took a turn into a dead-end.  He and Jensen waited casually just outside of sight from the street until the kid turned into the same alley.

 

The kid froze as soon as he saw Jared and Jensen looking back at him.  He attempted to dart away, but he wasn’t fast enough to make much headway.  Jared snagged the back of his jacket easily and sighed as the kid flailed in an attempt to escape.  Avoiding the spastic limbs, Jared grabbed onto one of the kid’s wrists, twisted his arm behind his back at an _extremely_ uncomfortable angle, and pressed him up against the alley wall. It was no surprise that the kid stopped struggling at that.

 

“Hey, look, uh, what’s this?  What’re you doing, grabbing me like this?  That’s against the law—that’s assault!  But if you just, uh, let me go quick, I won’t report it, I promise!  If we can all just be reasonable—”

 

The kid’s rambling rang a bell.  Grabbing the kid’s hair with his free hand, Jared tugged his face back so that he could get a look.  “You’re a Chau, aren’t you?” Jared asked, interrupting the kid’s frantic monologue firmly.  “The youngest son, I’m assuming.  Your brothers would know better than to tail me.”

 

“Brothers?” Jensen asked.  He’d kept out of the way while Jared had been pinning Osric to the wall, but he strolled closer now.  “Are you friends with them?”

 

Jared snorted.  “Hardly.  I know ‘em because I’ve arrested ‘em a few times.”  When Jensen made an impatient gesture with his hand, clearly requesting more knowledge, Jared expanded, “they’re Nogitsune lackeys.  Their dad’s in it too, so… all in the family.”  He looked back at the kid he was holding.  “I’m guessing this one’s new.”

 

“New, new, yup,” the kid agreed, squirming.  “New and therefore not worth killing.  Or arresting.”  He paused and wriggled again to no avail.  “Please let me go?”

 

“Sure,” Jared agreed mildly.  “I’ll let you go as soon as you tell me who you’re spying on me for and why.”

 

“Why might be a bit much,” Jensen inserted.  He was looking at his fingernails like he was afraid they’d somehow been harmed while _Jared_ had been wrestling the kid against the wall.  “Given the abysmal job he did tailing us, I’m not sure they’ve invested enough in him to give him information.”

 

“Fair,” Jared assented, even while the kid let out indignant noises from where he was pinned.  “Okay then, I’ll settle for who.  Also what they told you to watch out for especially.”

 

“I’m not telling you,” the kid retorted mulishly.  “I’m not gonna say another word.”

 

Jared exchanged a look with Jensen.  He somehow doubted the kid would be able to keep from talking.  He seemed full to almost-bursting with words.  Sighing, Jared tilted his head up to look at the sky.  “Well, if you’re not gonna tell us, I guess I’ll have no choice but to go to Mark and tell him about how you were following me around, even though that’s against the rules of our deal.”  It wasn’t, not really, but Jared doubted Mark ever really told anyone exactly _what_ their deal was.  “I guess that means I can really go after him now—”

 

“No!” The kid yelled out quickly, squirming with renewed energy.  “No, man! I mean, Officer Padalecki! I mean, Detective.”  He settled for a second, then started up with some kind of bucking action, like he thought he could throw Jared off.  “You’ve got it all wrong, sir!  Please, boss didn’t tell me to do anything, I swear to god—”

 

Jensen was massaging his forehead with a weary expression.  Jared rolled his eyes where the kid couldn’t see him.  Really, the kid had just _admitted_ Mark was his boss in front of two police officers.  Clearly no one had given him the “do’s and don’ts” speech.  “Well,” Jared said, “unless you can tell me who _did_ tell you to watch me, I can’t guarantee I _won’t_ go to Mark…”  He trailed off suggestively.

 

The kid nearly jumped in to fill the silence.  “Look, it was a special favor, okay?  Nothing to do with anything.  Just a special favor.  She was just _worried_ about you, wanted me to make sure you were okay—”

 

Every sign of weariness fled Jensen’s body.  He was instantly alert, a trained bloodhound with his nose in the air.  He’d just caught a scent.  “She?” Jensen questioned, shifting closer.  His eyes looked a slightly brighter green, and Jared wondered if he was ready to half-shift with eagerness.  Even _Jared_ felt like this kid was about to give them the key.  Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he already knew what that key was, and his stomach was already churning with horror.

 

Indeed, the kid didn’t need any more prompting.  “Miss Genevieve was just really worried about you, sir!  She said there was this big scary kitsune coming to town, and she wanted me to look out for you and your family.”

 

“Meg too?” Jared asked a little hoarsely, grip tightening on the kid’s arm.  “Have you been watching Meg too?”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” the kid nodded frantically.  “While you’re at work, I watch Meg.  And then when you’re both home, I go and report to Miss Genevieve, so she knows you’re okay.”  The kid managed to get his head around to look into Jared’s eyes.  “She really seems to still love you, you know.  With the way she looks out for you. She said that’s why boss couldn’t know—”

 

Jared was completely frozen.  He remembered now that he’d told Genevieve about the hole in the wall back when Chad had made it.  He remembered how close Genevieve had stayed to his mother even after they’d broken things off, close enough that she would visit their house every couple of weeks.  In fact, she’d been there just this morning, when he’d called Meg.  She could have easily taken Meg’s things on any of those visits.  She could have asked about Meg’s schedule without any suspicion.  As the wife of a gang leader, she had more than enough reason to want Gauthier dead.

 

Gentle hands settled on his shoulders and pulled him back.  Knowing Jensen would take care of things, he released the kid and turned around to try to get himself together.  Distantly, he heard Jensen murmuring to the kid, some soft mix of threatening and commanding.  Soon enough, the kid’s footsteps beat against the pavement as he scurried away, and Jared could feel the weight of Jensen’s presence just over his right shoulder, waiting.

 

He ran his hands over his face, then smoothed his hair back and took a deep breath.  “I don’t understand,” Jared said, and was proud his voice didn’t shake.  He drew some strength from Jensen’s cool calm as he tried to think it through rationally.  “Motive for murder, yes.  Motive to frame my sister?”

 

“You did break up with her,” Jensen reminded him, as if he was qualified to say something about Genevieve and Jared’s relationship.  “And then she married a gang leader, probably partially out of necessity.  It can make someone bitter, Jared.”

 

Jared shook his head, even though it made logical sense.  “That doesn’t sound like Gen,” he said.  “If she felt that way… she’s more direct than that.  She would have gone after me.”

 

Jensen hummed neutrally.  “But you’re not disagreeing that she’s probably our ‘fox murderer?”

 

“No,” Jared said wearily, turning around to see Jensen standing just as tall and confident as ever.  He didn’t look pitying or sympathetic, like Jared knew most other people would, and somehow that was a relief.  “No, I think it’s her too.”

 

“Good,” Jensen said with a definitive nod.  “Then we can go back to your house and look through the files for more evidence.  With some luck, we can gather enough to be able to arrest her tomorrow and get a sample of her DNA.”  Jensen paused then, looking slightly awkward for the first time since Jared had met him.  “I understand, however, if you would prefer not to work with me tonight.”

 

Jared’s lips quirked up into a soft smile without his consent as he felt a rush of fondness towards the other man.  “No, I want to work the case.  I _need_ to work it.”

 

Satisfaction colored Jensen’s eyes before he blinked and it was wiped away.  “Good.  I’m glad this won’t interfere with your work.”  Quickly, he reached up, ruffling Jared’s hair lightly with his hand in a surprisingly affectionate gesture.  His touch was gone as soon as it had appeared, and Jared wasn’t even able to manage a startled blink before Jensen was turning away.  “I think it’s best to head back to your house, then.”  He looked over his shoulder at Jared.  “Lead the way?”

 

Quickly, Jared walked ahead.  He couldn’t decide what he wanted to think about less—Genevieve’s likely betrayal or exactly how he’d felt under Jensen’s touch.  Somehow, even with everything, he couldn’t get the latter off his mind.

 

 

*

 

 

Shelia was sitting at the table with Meg when Jared and Jensen let themselves in.  When she looked up at them, her face paled, but she stayed determinedly where she was.  When Jared looked at Meg, his sister merely shrugged.  Clearly, his mother had decided against staying with one of her friends.

 

“Hey mom,” Jared said casually, tamping down on his internal turmoil.  He kissed the top of her head, then leaned over to kiss Meg as well.  “This is my friend, Jensen.  He’s going to be staying with us for a couple of days.”

 

“So I’ve heard,” Shelia replied stiffly.  She nodded at Jensen once in greeting, then.  Jared looked over and noticed the cleaning products had been out again.  There were bandages around his mother’s knuckles, likely from scrubbing too hard.  “If you don’t mind, my dear, I’m quite tired today…”

 

“Yeah, of course,” Jared agreed.  “You go on to bed.  We’ll order pizza or something.”  Pizza Delivery—yes, that really was its name—was one of the few legitimate businesses in Void that flourished.  As soon as his mother scuttled away into her bedroom, he picked up the home phone and made the call.

 

When he turned back around, he found that Meg and Jensen had somehow managed to split the table.  Meg was darting irritated glances  in the kitsune’s direction, but she remained silent, probably still intimidated from their encounter the other day.  Jensen didn’t appear to be paying her any attention, but Jared caught the slight upturned corners of his mouth.  “Jensen,” he said warningly, and wasn’t surprised when green eyes looked up innocently at him.  “There’s the coffee table in the living room.”

 

Very deliberately, Jensen turned to look at Meg, then back at Jared.  “I don’t see any issues with the current situation.  Do you?”

 

When Meg didn’t audibly object, Jared sighed and strode over to seat himself at the table.  “If you’re fine with showing Meg classified information, then by all means, we can stay here.”

 

“It’s not like she’s the murderer,” Jensen said matter-of-factly, licking his thumb and flipping a page.  Jared’s eyes got stuck on his lips for a few seconds before he tore his gaze away.  “I don’t see why I should worry about her, given that.”

 

This time, Jared looked at Meg.  She held his eyes for a moment, then huffed loudly.  “I’m not giving up my table to you guys.”

 

Jared wasn’t sure how his sister and his—and _Jensen—_ had gotten into a territory feud over the dinner table, but he didn’t feel like getting in the middle of it.  Instead, he just grabbed a packet of entrance records for Void and Wind and started thumbing through them, taking a renewed look at the Lightning kitsunes that had visited for any possible connection to Genevieve.  When he’d been dating her, Genevieve hadn’t known any kitsunes except the ones they’d met through their school exchange program, and only a few of those had been Lightning-type.  Of course, none of them were recorded as having entered Void _or_ Wind within the past two months.  “Damn,” he muttered to himself, and wondered _what_ other connections Gen could have.

 

Apparently Jensen had been having the same thoughts.  “Do you know of any known Nogitsune sympathizers that could fit our bill?” He murmured to Jared.  “I don’t see how else… unless she spent some time in the brothels?”

 

Jared shook his head firmly.  “She’s got a sister in the brothels, yeah, but she never joined up herself.  She married before that could become a necessity.”

 

“Who are you talking about?” Meg broke in impatiently, looking back and forth between the two of them.  “Do you guys have a new suspect or something?”

 

Jared looked at Jensen, but the ‘tsune seemed content to let him handle it.  He hadn’t even looked up from his papers.  “We have a new lead, yeah,” Jared said slowly.  “We’re pretty sure this is the one.”

 

“Who?” Meg repeated eagerly.  When Jared hesitated, she grabbed his hand, squeezing it.  “C’mon, Jared, they’ve been framing me.  If you say who you think it is, I might be able to remember something helpful.”

 

She made a good point.  When Jensen failed, yet again, to object, Jared took a deep breath and said, “It’s Genevieve.”

 

Meg’s eyes went all wide.  “Genevieve _Pellegrino_?” She squeaked.  “ _Your_ Genevieve?”

 

“Do we know another one?” Jared asked harshly.  “And she’s not _mine_.”

 

“No, but it’s interesting your sister refers to her that way,” Jensen said, cutting in with an annoyingly mild tone.  “It does say quite a bit about the way this Genevieve still feels for you.”

 

“Or it says my sister doesn’t know when to let things go,” Jared sniped back.  “Which is true, by the way.”  He looked back at Meg, whose face had gone pale.  “Look, I know you two are friendly.  But we have a pretty good reason to think it was Gen.”

 

Meg nodded slowly, and Jared watched as she tried to process the idea.  “I mean, she’s over enough,” Meg offered.  “I didn’t notice anything weird when she was over today though.  Except maybe that she was really concerned about you, but…”  Meg trailed off, laughing hoarsely.  “She’s always talking about you anyway.”

 

Even though Jensen was still looking at the paper in front of him, Jared _felt_ like he was getting one of those pointed looks.  He tried to ignore it, rolling his shoulders as if he could shrug the feeling off.  “I don’t think it’s about you,” Jared said softly.  “If anything, it’s probably about me.”  It still didn’t feel true to say that; the Genevieve Jared knew would never have taken out her anger towards Jared on Meg.  But, given what they knew, it was the most likely option.  “I’m really sorry, Meg.”

 

“No, it’s okay,” she said hurriedly, squeezing his hand once more.  “I mean, you guys know it isn’t me, so I’m gonna be okay.  You don’t have to apologize.  It’s not like you told her to frame me.”

 

“If I’d have known, I would have punched her,” Jared offered.  It was true, taboos about hitting a woman be damned.  This was his _sister_ he was talking about.  “If I’d have known, I never would have dated her in the first place.”

 

“I know,” Meg told him, looking at him affectionately.  “I’m sorry I can’t remember anything useful, though.”

 

“It’s okay,” Jared assured her.  He hadn’t really expected her to remember anything new anyway.  Meg was perceptive enough that if she’d felt something was off, she already would have brought it up.  “Look, why don’t you do your homework in your room or something?  I don’t want to distract you with this crap.”

 

Meg smirked.  “Are you trying to shoo me, Jared?” She asked archly, but Jared could tell she wasn’t really upset.  He was pretty sure she’d wanted to leave anyway, but hadn’t wanted to look like she was running away from Jensen.  “Fine, I’ll go and leave you two alone.  But I expected my pizza delivered to my room.”

 

There was something about the way Meg said “leave you two alone” that made Jared flush a bit.  Of course, Meg caught that, raising her eyebrows at him and then looking up at the ceiling like she was praying for guidance.  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she warned him in a light voice that wasn’t really teasing at all.  “I’ll be just inside my room, so...”  So she would hear if they _did_ do something.  Not that they would.

 

“Go to your room, Meg,” Jared said wearily, and she stuck out her tongue at him before sashaying into her room and slamming the door behind her.

 

Jensen didn’t make any comment, and they continued to quietly work through the information for a few more minutes.  Jared had just ticked another name off their possibilities list—Tim Olmundson had no Nogitsune affiliations at all; he’d only been in Void because he was a tourist that had gotten lost—when Jensen said, out of the blue, “I wouldn’t be opposed to it, you know.”

 

“To what?” Jared asked, brow wrinkling in confusion as he looked over at his companion.  Jensen was twirling his pen in his right hand absentmindedly, steady fingers flipping the pen over and over.

 

Jensen halted the pen’s motions, brought his hand down, and scribbled something onto his paper before replying, “to having sex with you.”

 

Jared nearly choked from surprise, air rushing too suddenly back into his lungs right when he’d been about to exhale.  He coughed a few times, trying to recover himself, even as he stared wide-eyed at Jensen.  There was a hint of amusement there, but Jensen still didn’t look at him.  “What?” Jared croaked finally.  When Jensen opened his mouth, probably to repeat himself obnoxiously, Jared cut him off with a swift hand gesture.  “No, I know what you said.  But I mean… _what_?”

 

Luckily, Jensen seemed to understand what he was trying to say.  Sighing, he put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and looked over at Jared.  “I’m aware that this might not be the best time to say so, but I figured I would get it out in the air.  You’re attracted to me.  You want to have sex with me.  And I’m not opposed to the idea, so if you decide you’d like to act on your feelings, you should know I won’t reject you.”  Jensen paused, and then added, “unless you choose an inappropriate moment, of course.”

 

“But _why_?” Jared burst out.

 

Jensen raised his eyebrows.  “Why what?”

 

“Why _me_?” Jared elaborated with some exasperation, mainly due to the fact that he was sure Jensen had known what he’d meant the first time.  He narrowed his eyes as an idea struck him.  “Unless it’s the null thing…”

 

Jensen rolled his eyes dramatically.  “Please, I could care less about your species.”  He drummed his fingers deliberately against the table, a steady rhythm underline his speech.  “No.  It’s because I find you _interesting_.”

 

Unimpressed, Jared raised his eyebrows.  “Interesting.  Right.  This is _really_ making me want to sleep with you.”

 

Jensen looked at him flatly, apparently equally unimpressed with Jared’s sarcasm.  “Jared,” he said plainly, “I’m an eight-tailed Heaven kitsune.  Not much interests me.  Take the compliment for what it is.”

 

“Oh,” Jared let out, blushing a little, because, really, he _had_ kind of forgotten that the man sitting beside him was the most powerful kitsune on the planet.  Jensen made it easy to forget.  Jared had spent so much time thinking about who _Jensen_ was, learning all his little quirks and trying not to be caught up in him, that he’d ignored who Jensen was to the rest of the world.

 

Jensen was still observing him, smiling a little smugly, presumably because he’d made Jared speechless.  Carefully, Jared thought through the rest of the implications of Jensen’s words.  “Does that mean you haven’t ever…” He trailed off delicately, trying to spare Jensen’s dignity.

 

It simply earned him another flat look.  “I’ve had sex, Jared,” Jensen told him bluntly.  “Probably with more people than you have. I did it more because I was curious about sex than because I was interested in my partners.  And then I got bored and moved on.”  He shrugged, like being _bored_ with sex wasn’t a big deal.  “I haven’t seen the point in being with anyone since then.  Now, I am.”

 

He made it sound so simple, but Jared was still working through the rest of it.  He’d been propositioned by kitsunes before, plenty of times.  He was a null, after all, and that made him desirable in a strange way.  Even Chad had made the offer.  This wasn’t about Jared being Jensen’s jirai, though.  Jared doubted Jensen even wanted a relationship with that.  He’d gotten bored of his other sexual partners, after all; he might get bored of Jared too, and adopting someone as your jirai meant a lifelong commitment.

 

No, Jensen’s offer had just been for sex, nothing more.  He didn’t seem like he would be terribly bothered if Jared said no, or ridiculously thrilled if Jared said yes.  In fact, Jensen had almost made it sound like a business arrangement; if it wasn’t for the nonchalant compliment Jensen had spared him, Jared thought “not opposed” would really have been more accurate than he would like it to be.

 

Jensen _did_ seem to want him though, at least if Jared trusted his explanation.  Wary, Jared sniffed a bit, taking in more of Jensen’s scent than was technically polite.  There _were_ pheromones there, strong ones that confirmed what Jensen had said.  He was _interested_ Jared, in multiple ways, it seemed.  Jared could take him up on his offer without worrying that Jensen was just doing him some kind of twisted favor.

 

“You think too hard,” Jensen told him.  “At least in these matters.  You’d be far better applying that same intensity of thought to your work.”

 

Jared raised his eyebrows.  “Are you insinuating that I don’t?” He asked, pretty sure it wasn’t the case, but testing it out nonetheless.

 

He got another little eye roll as Jensen deliberately turned back to his work.  “You know I think you’re a good detective, Jared.  However, that doesn’t mean a little extra effort ever hurts.”  He tapped his pen against the table once as he picked it up.  “We’re missing something,” he said huffily.  “I hate it when I know I’m missing something.”

 

Jared wasn’t exactly fond of the feeling either.  He felt like he was missing something as well, not only with the case, but also with Jensen.  He stared at the back of Jensen’s head.  “Why?” He asked again, softer this time.  “It’s one thing for a ‘tsune to respect a ‘fox for how he works.  It’s another for a kitsune to ask a ‘fox into his bed for sex on equal footing.”

 

“Is it?” Jensen asked in reply, voice mild.  He didn’t say anything else for a moment, just twirled his pen once, twice, three times.  “Your sister.  She’s a radical, yes?”

 

“Yes,” Jared agreed, bemused by the lack of segue-way.

 

“And you.  Do you agree with her?”

 

“To some extent.”

 

Jensen shrugged, an elegant practiced motion.  “Well then.  I agree with her to some extent as well.”  When Jared continued to look at him dubiously, Jensen huffed out a loud breath.  “I told you yesterday that I had a fine sense of my own superiority.  I so rarely find someone who meets my standards—or surpasses them, in your case—that it would be stupid of me to dismiss them on the basis of whether they have one or more tails when they shift.”

 

“Having sex is still different,” Jared insisted, still blushing a bit from Jensen’s off-hand compliment.  “Look, I’ve been friends with Chad for years.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t still see the difference.  Which, by the way, would be highlighted by sex.”

 

Jensen hummed, clearly disagreeing.  “How about this: why you try thinking of it _less_ as some generic werefox having sex with some generic kitsune, and more as _you_ having sex with _me_?”

 

Jared wasn’t stupid enough to ask whether or not it was the same thing.  He kept quiet and returned to his work.  When the pizza arrived, he took two pieces to Meg’s room.  She was sitting on the bed and looked up when he entered.  “You have weird taste in people,” she told him.

 

“Thanks,” he answered dryly, and got out of the room before she could say anything else.  He paused for a second, watching Jensen as he worked diligently at the table.  If Jared hadn’t known better, he might have thought Jensen was a werefox.  Without looking at his cuff, it was harder to tell.  That was why the cuffs had been made mandatory in the first place.

 

That night, before they went to sleep, Jensen helped him pull out the couch bed.  He spoke while they put the sheets on, even though neither of them would be sleeping beneath them.  “Part of the reason the president created my position was because we noticed how corrupt things were getting and how kitsunes who were clearly guilty were going free.  Now, the president, he’s not quite as radical as I am in this sense, but he does believe that all people should be treated fairly and should have the same right to a fair trial, whether they’re kitsune or werefox.  My job here is to fix things, however necessary.  Even if that means making some drastic changes.”

 

Jared dwelled on his words for a moment.  Then he said, even though he almost couldn’t believe it, “he wants you to merge the two police forces.  Get rid of the DPDFU and have a unified force.”

 

Jensen shrugged slightly.  “That’s the final step.  We won’t be there for a while.  For now, my job is to get rid of those who believe so strongly in their own species’s superiority that they’ll blame crimes that are _clearly_ committed by kitsune on ‘foxes, and to establish cooperation between the two police forces.”  His lips quirked up a bit as he looked over at Jared across the bed.  “You already got my work started for me, you know.  Even if I hadn’t come, you already had Aldis and Chad’s respect.  You had them looking at your species in a new light.”

 

Jared looked down at the bed, flushing.  “If you’re trying to flatter me—”

 

“I don’t need to,” Jensen said simply.  He pulled off his shirt, and this time Jared’s gaze lingered before he turned around and undressed himself.  If they laid a bit closer together in the bed than the previous night, close enough that Jensen’s breath ruffled Jared’s fur, it was no one else’s business.

 

*

 

Jared had weird dreams that night.  He thought pretty much anyone was bound to after the evening he’d had.  He wasn’t surprised when, in one moment, he was falling asleep next to Jensen, and the next, he was looking at Gen’s laughing face.  Of course he would dream of her.

 

It was one of those dreams which was half-memory, half-imagination.  Jared recognized the day; they were outside on a hill, far beyond the city, in some little rocky, sandy place that was all theirs.  It was where they’d gone for the one year anniversary of their relationship.  At the time, Jared had honestly thought it would last another year as well.

 

_Gen turned to him, laughing soundlessly as the breeze blew her dress so it pressed against her legs.  Jared looked at her, looked at the perfect, picturesque moment that his mind had chosen to focus on.  And then, body moving against his will, as it does in dreams, he stepped forward and pushed her.  The hill had turned into a cliff; he could see her falling down down down, arms reaching upward as if she thought there was someway Jared might save her, even at the last moment._

 

Jared lurched forward out of his dream.  If he’d been in his other form, he would have awoken sitting up.  Instead, his internal panic meant he found himself on his paws instantly, blinking away sleep even as he growled.

 

He got batted in the face with one long, fluffy tail.  _“Go back to sleep,”_ Jensen told him, using the mind-speak that all werefoxes and kitsunes were able to use in their four-legged forms.  When Jared looked over, the kitsune’s green eyes were looking up at him, half-lidded.  “ _We’re going in late today.  We both need some rest._ ”

 

Jared watched as, very deliberately, Jensen shut his eyes again, curling up even tighter than before.  As appealing as resting sounded, with resting came dreaming, and Jared did _not_ want to see what else his mind had in store for him.  He glanced at the clock in the kitchen and saw it was five.  Soon, Meg would be waking up for school—and shit, Meg couldn’t see him in his fox-form with Jensen like this.

 

Quickly, Jared shifted forms, pulling on his clothes hurriedly before he poked Jensen, who still seemed determined to sleep.  “You need to get up,” he whispered.  “Unless you want my sister walking in on you like this.”

 

With a loud, drawn-out sigh, Jensen unfurled his body and stretched, arching his back just like a cat.  “ _Unlike most people, I don’t actually have an issue with this form.  One form or the other, what does it matter?  We_ are _both.”_

 

No wonder Jensen had shifted in front of him so easily the first night, if that was his attitude.  “It matters,” Jared said, feeling a bit silly speaking out loud when anyone listening would think he was talking to himself, “because the current view of society is that people only shift for each other if they’re _extremely_ intimate and I don’t want my sister hassling me about that.”

 

Jared received a flat look.  The memories from the previous night came rushing back—Jensen’s offer, Jared’s’ own blatant interest, everything.  He flushed a bit and strode over into the kitchen to get away from Jensen.  He kept his back to the living room as he heard the distinctive sounds of Jensen shifting and then pulling on his clothing.  Moments later, Jensen was at his elbow.  Surprisingly, he hadn’t completely pulled himself together yet; he’d merely pulled on a pair of sweats and a white t-shirt.  Even his hair was still rumpled from bed.

 

Pushing Jared gently aside, he started up the coffee machine.  Jared watched the methodical way he set everything up, the same precise movements he’d used when driving the car or flipping through data.  Even though he appeared still half-asleep, his movements gave him away.  He was alert and focused, just like he always seemed to be.  Like he probably would be if Jared took him up on the offer for sex too.

 

Jared looked over at the mountain of work on the table, reminding himself of why Jensen was there in the first place.  “So.  What’s the plan for today?”  They hadn’t been able to find enough to positively ID Gen without clueing in everyone else or Gen herself.  Jared was pretty sure, knowing what he did of Jensen, that the man already had a plan in place for exactly how the matter would be handled without ever letting the rest realize that he and Jared had hid things from them.

 

“Hmmm…” Jensen hummed, tapping his fingers against the counter as he watched the coffee brew.  “For one thing, I think we need to speak to one James Stuart.”  He nodded towards his laptop.  “One of the last things I found before we went to sleep was an interview with him, essentially taking an even more extreme stance than Gauthier and Tapping on the matter of policing and sterilizing werefoxes.”  Jensen frowned a bit at this in distaste, a minor movement of facial muscles that Jared might not have noticed if he hadn’t been watching for it.  “If our killer duo is going after Gauthier and his associates, then presumably Stuart is next on their hit list.”

 

“And since they’ve been moving quickly between victims, you think they’ll act tonight.”  Jared considered it.  No doubt Jensen wanted to stake out the house, if they didn’t have a better lead by the end of the day.  “No wonder you wanted to sleep in,” Jared said.  He paused and then looked at Jensen out of the corner of his eyes.  “Are you sure we can’t just let him die?”

 

Jensen didn’t react to this at all, removing the coffee from the machine and pouring it into a mug with his usual straight face.  Only once he’d taken his first sip did he reply, “unfortunately, it _would_ give our killers another chance to frame your sister.  While we can easily prove that she wasn’t involved, I don’t think either of us want her dragged into this.”

 

Jared’s lips quirked upwards as he noticed what was _very_ obviously missing from Jensen’s logic.  “But, otherwise, you’d be down for letting him die.”

 

Jensen took another calm sip of his coffee and then said, “I might not be opposed to letting them kill him before apprehending him.”

 

“The same way you might not be opposed to sleeping with me?” Jared blurted out before he could think the better of it.  He flushed a second later, realizing that he’d brought the subject back up, something he really _hadn’t_ wanted to do.

 

Jensen, however, seemed pleased.  Smile lines formed around the corners of his eyes as the edges of his lips twitched upwards.  “Yes, I believe they would have somewhat similar levels of enthusiasm.”  Almost distantly, Jared realized that Jensen was subtly _flirting_ with him.  He was so cool and confident about it that it was almost hard to notice it for what it was.  “I’ll leave you to decide which one I might prefer, though.”  Jensen _winked_ at him before strolling back into the living room and _pulling off his shirt._

 

Jared looked up at the ceiling.  “That is just not fair,” he said, and Jensen snorted.    He took in a couple of deep breaths and hoped that Jensen would let the matter drop.  “Okay, so we talk to this James Stuart about staking out his house.  What are we going to do for the rest of the day?”

 

“We’ll continue looking through all the male Lightning kitsune in Dallas and try to find one that might have met Mrs. Pellegrino or, if nothing else, has political affiliations that would differ from Gauthier’s,” Jensen informed him, all business once again.  “You and I will work on the former; the others, the latter.”  Clothing rustled as Jensen got dressed.  Jared grabbed a banana, deciding that would be a good enough breakfast, and only realized after he peeled it how very _phallic_ it was.  He bit into it more violently than he otherwise would have.  “Unless you can think of a way to link Pellegrino to the crimes without alerting her—and thus, her partner—to the fact that we’re onto them?”

 

“Other than stealing something with her DNA on it?”  He could practically _feel_ Jensen’s unimpressed look.  “Yeah, I know, difficult to do and sort of illegal.  But it _is_ the other option.”

 

Jensen reappeared at his elbow, this time dressed in black slacks and a grey button-down, with the sleeves already rolled up.  The top two buttons were undone, showing off the long expanse of his throat.  Jared swallowed as Jensen picked his coffee mug back up and drank, tipping his head back to do so.  He set it back down on the counter and then said, “besides, it’s decidedly more risky.  Not only would it give Ms. Pellegrino an opportunity to figure out we were onto her, but it could also mean missing a chance to catch her partner.”

 

Tossing the banana peel into the trash can, Jared grunted his agreement.  “So, the plan is basically to do busy work today until we can stake out Stuart’s house?”

 

“Basically,” Jensen agreed, finishing off his coffee.

 

“Fun,” Jared muttered under his breath.  Something twisted in his stomach.  It was hard to tell what exactly was making him feel uncomfortable and anxious; he had so many things on his mind.  They could potentially arrest the murderers that very day and Genevieve would most likely be one of them.  Jared would have to look her in the eye and know that she had tried to get his sister sentenced to death for crimes she committed herself.  That was more than enough to make him nauseous.

 

There was something more, though.  As much as Jared wanted the case closed, he looked at Jensen and knew that his reforms would only take a week, if not less.  As soon as he was done, Jensen would be gone, off to disrupt someone else’s world entirely.  Jared, well, he would be left where he’d always been.

 

*

  

When Jensen explained the plan to Chad and Aldis at the station, the latter seemed more than content to follow Jensen’s lead.  On the other hand, Chad still hadn’t warmed up to Jensen.  He glared and stomped back to his desk, loudly sighing as he did paperwork.  Eventually, Jared grabbed him by his sleeve and pulled him into the men’s bathroom.  “Dude,” he said, “what’s up with you today?”

 

Chad fidgeted angrily, pulling on his sleeves, first rucking them up and then pulling them back down.  “Nothing’s wrong with me,” he answered harshly.  He sounded angry at _Jared_ , for some reason.  “Just because you’re fucking BFFs with Ackles doesn’t mean _I_ have to like him—”

 

“Whoa.”  Jared held up his hands, surprised by the sudden attack.  “Just because I _get along_ with Jensen doesn’t mean that we’re ‘BFFs’ either.”  He stared at Chad, perplexed.  “Seriously, man, I don’t get what your big issue with Jensen is either.  Sure, he’s a little uptight and he’s kinda anal”—oh man, Jared did _not_ need to be thinking about anal in conjunction with Jensen—“but he’s good at what he does.”

 

“I don’t doubt that he’s a good detective,” Chad bit out.  “But I don’t fucking _like_ the dude, and that’s that.”  He scuffed his foot against the floor with a loud squeak.  “Can I fucking go back to work now?”

 

“If you’re sure you’re okay, yeah…”  Jared trailed off.  Normally, Chad would have taken the opportunity to rant to him, but instead he stormed back out, letting the door slam shut behind him.  Jared stood there for a moment, completely bemused, before heading back out.

 

When he sat down beside Jensen, the kitsune looked at him out of the corner of his eyes.  “I take it your little ‘intervention’ didn’t do much good?”

 

“How did you guess?” Jared muttered sarcastically, flipping through the paperwork with more violence than was probably necessary.

 

“The way he’s glaring at me is a bit of a hint.”  Suddenly, Jensen scooted closer, reached up, and swept a strand of Jared’s hair off his forehead and behind his ear.  Jared couldn’t stop his sudden blush, or the way he stared at Jensen in utter shock.  Jensen’s eyes darted from Jared’s face to something behind him and then murmured, “interesting,” before pulling back without another word.

 

Jared gaped at him for a moment, trying to decide if it was worth asking, but then he remembered that he was in a police station full of other officers and now was _not_ the time to be talking about _personal_ matters with Jensen.  He rubbed a hand through his hair self-consciously and went back to his work.

 

By five that evening, they hadn’t found anything new.  Jared hurriedly gulped down two of the subs someone had brought in for dinner.  Jensen practically picked his apart instead of eating it, as Jared watched with a critical eye.  Still, the food all managed to disappear eventually, presumably into his stomach.  Then Jensen rolled his shoulders back and reached for the phone.  “I guess Mr. Stuart deserves a call.”

 

Jensen twirled the phone cord around his finger as he held the phone to his ear.  After a few moments, he said, “hello, this is Jensen Ackles with the DKPD.  Please let Mr. Stuart know that we’ll be arriving at his house shortly.”  He hung up without waiting for the other person to reply.  When Jared stared at him with raised eyebrows, Jensen merely shrugged.  “I let him know, didn’t I?”

 

Naturally, the Stuart household was in a flurry when they arrived.  Only Jared, Jensen, Chad, and Aldis went up to the house, but they’d brought other officers to help cover all the grounds.  James Stuart appeared in his bathrobe after they were ushered into the front hall.  “What is the meaning of this?” He asked indignantly, his wife standing nervously just behind him.  “I’d like to know why you have _invaded_ my house!”

 

Jensen looked up at Stuart nonchalantly, like the man on higher ground didn’t bother him any.  It probably didn’t; Jensen was powerful enough that he didn’t need trifle things like height to show his dominance.  “We have reason to believe that you are being targeted by a pair of murderers,” he announced bluntly.  “We plan on staking out your house in order to capture them.”

 

Stuart’s wife let out a squeak, clutching her husband’s arm tighter.  Some of Stuart’s posturing faded away.  “You think—Amanda and Chris’s murderers?  You think they’re interested in me?”

 

Jensen didn’t show a shred of compassion, didn’t try to ease him.  Instead, he said flatly, “you believe in a lot of similar things and spread the same rhetoric.  If they plan on eliminating all the prominent members of the Inari Forces in Dallas, you would be the next logical choice.”

 

Jared could see Stuart trying to pull himself together.  “And you didn’t think to tell me this _earlier_?” He spat, glaring down at Jensen.  “I will tell your chief how _very_ unimpressed I am with his detectives.”

 

With a start, Jared realized that Stuart had _no_ idea who Jensen was.  Automatically, Jared looked to Jensen, waiting to see how, exactly, Jensen would slap Stuart down, but Jensen just seemed to shrug it off.  “You can try, if you’d like,” he said, and Jared watched with amusement as Stuart looked more affronted than before.  “However, I’m here to do my job, not explain to you my reasoning.  So I’m going to go back out to our van outside and let my men set up.  You go to bed and _stay there_ , where we can keep an eye on you.”  With that, Jensen swept around and strolled back outside.

 

Jared followed, but didn’t get a chance to comment on anything, because Jensen was instantly snapping out orders, telling everyone where to position themselves.  Jared and Jensen were going to stay in the surveillance van and command the troops from there.  They were plugged into the house’s camera system and could see nearly everything.  “I wonder how the murderers are planning on taking care of the cameras,” Jared mused as soon as they were settled.  “Especially if they want to continue with their rather, erm, dramatic style of killing.”

 

“There are a few blind spots,” Jensen said, gesturing to the screens.  “I positioned men there, of course, in case the killers had scoped out the area and the technology beforehand.”  He paused, and then conceded, “but you are correct that their usual methods of killing would not work within the blind spots.  Most likely they planned on cutting off the camera’s feed with magic, shooting it out, or wearing enough clothing that they would not be easily identified on a camera.  Perhaps all three.”

 

“It’s amazing just how useless cameras can be, in the end,” Jared commented.  The sun was setting outside. It would be nine soon, and they’d probably have at least a few hours alone in the van.  “I was surprised when you didn’t, uh, put Stuart in his place.”

 

Jensen glanced over at him, clearly amused.  “I have better things to do with my time than destroy the egos of insignificant kitsunes.  That said…”  He tapped his fingers against the console, looking back at the screens in front of them.  “If we had had a bit more time…”

 

Snorting, Jared shook his head.  “Too bad.  I woulda paid to see it.”  They settled in companionable silence for a while, watching as the lights began to go off in the Stuart house.  As the sun slipped below the horizon, the inside of the van became a bit darker too, a bit more intimate.  Jared glanced over at Jensen, watched the way the video screens lit his face with artificial light.  “What were you doing earlier?” He asked finally, softly.  “In the station.  You touched me.”

 

As he said that, Jared realized that he’d never seen Jensen touch anyone else.  He’d touched Jared a few times, very casually, but when had he seen Jensen ever really do anything casually?  Suddenly, the few times he _had_ touched Jared seemed to hold a lot more importance; they seemed deliberate instead of accidental.

 

“Oh, that.”  Jensen waved a hand, but he was smiling a little, and exuding an air of smugness.  “Testing a hypothesis.”

 

“What hypothesis?” When Jensen hummed instead of answering, Jared growled lowly, irritated.  “God damn it, Jensen, just tell me.  I know it wasn’t anything about me, because I saw you looking over my shoulder.”

 

Jensen looked pleasantly surprised.  “Oh, you caught that?” He nodded approvingly at Jared.  “Well done.”

 

“Does that mean you’ll tell me?” Jared questioned archly.

 

Jensen snorted, shaking his head, not in denial, but more like he was laughing a bit at himself.  “I like that you don’t let things go,” he said and looked over at Jared deliberately.  Maybe it was just the lighting, but his eyes looked darker.  Jared fought the urge to flush.  “I was interested in seeing how Chad would react to me touching you.”

 

“ _Chad_?”  Jared hadn’t even imagined that it had had anything to do with Chad.  “I thought Chad was beneath your notice.”

 

“ _Nothing_ is beneath my notice, Jared,” Jensen corrected.  “Most things are, however, not worth my further attention _beyond_ a notice.”  For a second, Jared thought he was going to stop speaking after that, but then he continued, “exactly how aware are you of Chad’s feelings for you?”

 

Wrinkling his brow, Jared frowned over at Jensen in confusion.  “Feelings?” He asked, perplexed.  “I mean, we’re friends.  Good friends.  I know he’s glad to have me back around, but otherwise—”

 

“Well that answers my question,” Jensen cut in lowly, almost speaking to himself.  He looked at Jared once more, expression indulgent.  “Don’t worry about it, Jared.  It’ll become clear soon enough, I think.”  He turned back to the video screens, clearly ending the conversation.

 

Jared hissed under his breath, but did the same.  The atmosphere in the van was no longer relaxed though.  There was a tension there, whether it was because Jared had invoked the memory of them touching, or because the darkness seemed to bring out the sensuality in both of them.  Either way, Jared fidgeted in his seat a bit, struggling to remain focused on surveillance.

 

It was a little after eleven when something changed.  Jared was watching the vid screens on his side when suddenly Jensen moved forward.  “There!” He said, pressing a button to turn the transmitter on.  “Chad, I can see movement near you.  Back fence, behind the trees.”

 

Jared moved over, staring at the screen where Jensen was looking.  A small figure in black was making its way over the stone fence.  It—she; he could see the small bump of breasts under the tight black fabric she was wearing—landed on the ground gracefully and crouched down, looking around.  Chad was not far away, he knew.  He was supposed to give her a little time, so they could catch her partner.

 

The intruder didn’t move.  She stayed crouched where she was, looking from side to side occasionally.  There was a small black backpack on her back.  Her face was covered by a black ski mask, but Jared felt like she was confused; something about her body language indicated that this was not how things were supposed to go.  She was fidgeting, glancing down at her wrist occasionally, like she was used to wearing a watch and kept forgetting she didn’t have one on now.

 

Finally, around ten minutes later, she stood up a bit.  But instead of going inside the house, she made as if to climb back over the wall.  Jensen jabbed the mike button again.  “Chad!” He barked, but Chad was already sprinting across the yard.  The woman froze as soon as she saw him, and that moment of surprise was enough to allow Chad to catch her.  He was handcuffing her and saying something—reading her rights, probably—before he began walking her back towards them.

 

Jensen recalled the other cops, staying where he was in the van.  Jared couldn’t sit still, though.  He got out and paced in front of the van until Aldis and Chad came around, the woman walking in front of them.  The mask was still on and Jared stared at it as if he could will it off.

 

“Jared.”  Jensen ducked out of the van and caught his wrist, stilling him.  He released him seconds after, but the touch burned against Jared’s skin.  He could feel the murderess watching him, and as much as he wanted to doubt it, now that she was in front of him, he knew for sure.  To be honest, he had known since she’d jumped down from the fence in the first place.

 

He wasn’t surprised, then, when Jensen pulled the ski mask off and it was Genevieve underneath.  She was staring at him, brown eyes large and pleading, but he looked away, turning his gaze down on his hands instead.  They were shaking a bit.  He rubbed them against his pants.

 

“Jared,” Jensen said again.  Chad was putting Genevieve in the backseat of the cruiser with what was probably unnecessary force.  Absently, Jared wondered if she was still wearing her wedding ring.  “ _Jared_.”  Jensen’s fingers snapped in front of him.  There was a flicker of something there—maybe concern.  “Jared, we need to go back to the station and question her.”

 

“Right.”  Jared shook his head roughly and climbed into one of the other police cars; the van had to stay for a while.  Jensen had apparently commandeered the car, because they were the only people inside it.

 

Jensen drove in silence.  He didn’t speak until they were parked back at the station.  Jared stared out the window towards the DKPD headquarters, not really wanting to get out and have to question his ex-girlfriend for multiple homicide.  Jensen ran his hands along the wheel of the car and then let them fall into his lap.  “So.  Was it her?”

 

With a start, Jared realized that Jensen had never seen any pictures of Genevieve and wouldn’t have known what she looked like.  Jerkily, Jared nodded.  “Yeah,” he said hoarsely.  “It’s her.”

 

For a moment, they both just sat there.  Then, Jensen looked over at him, expression serious, even though his eyes seemed to glitter.  “You don’t have to go in with me,” he offered, and Jared thought that that was probably the kindest thing Jensen had ever said to him.

 

Still, he sighed and shook his head before looking away from Jensen and opening the car door.  “Yeah, I do,” he said.  Jensen didn’t object any further, just walked into the station at his side.

 

*

 

Genevieve’s small black backpack had been confiscated upon her arrest.  Aldis told them when he’d entered that it had held a few strands of brown hair.  He told them solemnly that he thought that the perp had been trying to frame someone.  The bag was being held in evidence.  Jared was pretty sure he knew whose hair it was.

 

The evidence that it _had_ been Genevieve trying to frame Meg turned Jared’s shock into a raw kind of fury.  He hadn’t really _believed_ it; as much as he’d _known_ it had to be Genevieve, he’d never been able to fully believe it until she was there, sitting on the other side of the one way glass, gnawing at her nails like she always did when she was nervous.  Chad had told them that she’d declined a chance to call her lawyer and that she was prepared to confess.

 

Jensen observed her silently for a moment and then gestured minutely to Jared.  Jared followed him into the interrogation room and seated himself beside Jensen, across from Genevieve.  He looked at the files in front of him instead of the woman across from him.

 

“Genevieve Pellegrino,” Jensen stated quietly.  “Detective Murray said you wanted to confess?”

 

“Yes,” she answered.  Her voice wavered and shook as she spoke.  “I wanted to confess to the murders of Chris Gauthier and Amanda Tapping, and the intended murder of James Stuart.”

 

There was a pause.  “Any reason you’re willing to confess so easily?” Jensen asked, although he sounded weary, like he already knew.  “We thank you for your cooperation, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get any leniency in court.”

 

“Yes, I know.”  She did know.  As the wife of a mob boss, Mark had probably _trained_ her for this kind of situation.  “I was hoping, instead, that I would get some leniency here.  A chance to explain.”  She moved her hands; Jared could see them from where he was looking down at the table.  She moved as if to reach for him, but the handcuffs holding her to the table jerked her to halt.  She let out a little wounded gasp, not like it hurt, but like the reminder _itself_ hurt.  Gen had always been a very tactile person, quick to reach, to touch.  Maybe it did hurt not to be able to touch him.

 

“Jared,” she said, reaching out with her voice when her touch was denied.  “Jared,” she repeated, almost begging.  “Please let me explain.”

 

“Mrs. Pellegrino,” Jensen said sternly, a bit of power infused into his voice.  “My partner and I are more than willing to hear your explanation if you want to give it.”  Underneath the words, Jared felt there was a clear implication; if Genevieve wanted to explain, she could do so, but she wasn’t allowed to try and engage Jared if he didn’t want to be engaged.  Jared watched her torso slump back against her chair and her weary sigh rattle her body.

 

She began speaking.  “I married Mark Pellegrino when I was nineteen, you know.  He was, and is, the leader of the Nogitsune gang, which _you_ probably didn’t know.”  Jared couldn’t help looking up in surprise.  The fact that she was willing to give up her husband so easily, essentially giving them cause to arrest him, meant that Mark might have been more involved than he’d thought.

 

She was looking at Jensen, but it still felt like all her attention was on Jared.  Every line of her body seemed tense and attuned to him.  He felt her cataloguing his every move with anxiety.  Jensen cleared his throat and Jared looked at him gratefully.  “Continue please, Mrs. Pellegrino.”

 

“Genevieve, please,” she said, like it was a habit, and then laughed hoarsely.  “I hate that name.  ‘Mrs. Pellegrino.’  I hate it.”  She took in another deep breath and looked down at her chained wrists.  “He was the one that… he wanted Gauthier gone, but none of his men could do it.  They wouldn’t have the subtlety, wouldn’t be able to keep quiet.  They’d want bragging rights.  He told me I had to do it.  That it was my job, as his wife.”  She looked up, staring Jensen right in the eyes.  “I’d never killed anyone before, you know.”

 

Jensen’s face was blank, but Jared thought that was more comforting than anything else.  “Yes, I knew,” he agreed.  “So your husband was the reason you murdered Gauthier?”

 

“Yes.”  She licked her lips and glanced sideways at Jared, fleeting and wary.  “You don’t understand, though.  With him, it’s do or get gone.  He could divorce me, take everything away from me.  And where would I be?  Where would my _family_ be?”  She blinked her eyes rapidly; she was on the verge of tears.  “My father used to be a garbage collector.  But he was checking on one of his trucks one day and he just—” She cut herself off.  “He was crippled.  Couldn’t work.  My mother’s been dead since I was five and my sister already works in a brothel for little money.  I had to find _something_.”

 

Bile was rising in the back of Jared’s throat.  He remembered Mr. Cortese, a kind man, if a bit gruff. He’d done the best he could, raising two daughters without a wife and working full time.  Jared had never heard about his accident, but it couldn’t have been long after he’d broken up with Genevieve.  All of a sudden, her speedy marriage to Mark made more sense.

 

“So you have to understand—” She was pleading now, looking once more towards Jared desperately.  “I _had_ to do what he said.  I never would have killed _anyone_ if it hadn’t been for that.”

 

“But why—” Jared burst out before he could stop himself.  He bit off the rest of the words, trying to reel them back in, but it was already too late.  He’d spoken, and he might as well ask the question he’d been choking back since he’d sat down across from her.  “Why would you try to frame my sister?” He asked lowly.  “Why didn’t you come to me instead of just following Mark blindly?  Gen—”

 

“Why didn’t I _come_ to you?” Genevieve repeated, almost like she was shocked by the very idea.  “Jared, you just…  you broke up with me and told me it was for my own good.  You told me that you needed to do this for your _family_ and I wouldn’t be able to _handle_ it.”  She was twisting her hands together, knuckles white.  “You didn’t want me to be _alienated_ , so you left me.  I wasn’t about to come to you—to show you I wasn’t able to handle it either way!”  Her voice was fierce, even though she seemed on the verge of crying.  “I have some pride left, you know.  I would _never_ have gone to you, not after you treated me like I was somebody whose life you could decide!”

 

He just stared at her.  He hadn’t thought of it that way.  He had thought of it as something he was doing for Gen’s own good.  He’d told himself she’d be better off and he’d watched her marry Mark and had assumed that she was happy.  He’d never even thought that it might have been a marriage of necessity instead of love.

 

When he didn’t respond, all the energy seemed to drain out of Gen. She crumpled in on herself, looking down at the table.  “Anyway, it wasn’t my idea to frame, Meg.  It was…”  She trailed off, eyes darting around the room, lingering on the one-way glass.

 

Jensen leaned forward.  “We know you have a partner, Genevieve,” he said slowly, calmly.  Everything Jared _should_ be acting like.  “We know you’re working with a male Lightning kitsune.  Tell us who he is and I will talk to the judge myself about lowering your sentence.”

 

Before he’d even finished speaking, Gen was vigorously shaking her head in denial.  “No, no, no.  I can’t tell you who he is.  I _can’t_.”  She cut herself off and coughed a little.  It was more like she was choking on air than anything else.  “I didn’t even… I ran into him at the first crime scene.  He proposed this deal; he’d help me with this murder and I’d help with a few others.  And I’d frame Meg.”  Her eyes darted towards Jared, like she was trying to communicate something with her gaze.  “The first murder was mine.  But the rest… I don’t even know why he wanted them dead.  Maybe they were just convenient.”

 

Jensen’s interest was nearly palpable.  “Are you _sure_ you can’t tell us, Genevieve?” He asked again.  “We’ll be able to protect you from him—”

 

“No, no, I _can’t_ ,” she repeated, like that was explaining anything.  Her eyes were wide, earnest.  “I _can’t_.  But you have to be careful, okay?  Jared, you _have_ to be careful.”

 

There was something in that warning that Jared couldn’t quite pick up on.  Still, a few of the dots were connecting.  This was a kitsune who had wanted to frame Meg.  Although he’d worked with Gen, it had been _him_ who’d come up with the idea to frame Jared’s sister, not Gen or Mark.  Which meant there was someone out there with a vendetta against him and his, and a history of murder.

 

It was clear, though, that that was all they were going to get out of Genevieve that day.  “Thank you for your help, Genevieve,” Jensen said professionally, standing.  “Detectives Hodge and Murray will escort you to the city jail for the night.”

 

Aldis cracked the door open and began unlocking Genevieve’s handcuffs from the desk.  “Just me, I’m afraid,” he said, and he was smiling kindly at Gen, like something about her story had touched him.  “Chad had to hit the head.”

 

When she was unlocked from the desk, Aldis tried to escort her out, but Genevieve lunged at Jared, tiny fists locking onto the fabric of his shirt.  Jared put his hands on her shoulders— either to push her away or pull her closer—but she just looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and asked, “can you forgive me?  Jared, please say you’ll forgive me?”

 

“I do,” he said, because he couldn’t _not_ forgive her.  He was part of what had put her in the position she’d been in.  The least he could do was forgive her for surviving as best she could.  “I forgive you, Gen.”

 

“Thank you,” she whispered, releasing him.  Aldis instantly pulled her away, spiriting her out of the room, towards the cop car waiting outside to drive her to jail.

 

Jared stared after her.  Thankfully, Jensen didn’t say anything, just stood there with him for a few minutes.  When he finally spoke, he didn’t say anything trite like “it’ll be okay” or “it wasn’t _really_ your fault.”  Instead, he said, “we should pack up.  Go back to your house and sleep until noon.”

 

Sleep sounded _really_ good, despite the previous night’s nightmares.  Jared nodded his agreement and shuffled out of the interrogation room behind Jensen.  He wasn’t bringing home his work, so there wasn’t much to pack.  He was standing beside Jensen, waiting for him to be done, when he heard it.  A shot.  A scream.  Then silence.

 

There was a moment where Jensen and Jared just stared at each other.  Jensen looked as surprised as Jared had ever seen him, eyes green and wide.  “Shit,” Jared whispered and then they were both off like a shot, pounding down the stairs.  Jared only realized he was half-shifted when he noticed he could suddenly see better; the night was crystal clear as he burst out the front doors of the station.  Which meant he could clearly see Genevieve slumped in Aldis’s arms, head lolled back, bullet through her forehead.

 

The sound Jared made was wounded, keening, a soft little yelp of despair.  He rushed over and snatched her out of Aldis’s arms, even though he knew there was nothing left of Genevieve in the body.  He cradled her against his chest—body still warm—and heard Jensen barking out orders to the other men around.  He was telling them to find the shooter, and quickly.  He himself was rushing off.  Jared stayed in place though.  He held Genevieve until Jensen came back and knelt on the ground beside him.  “Gone,” he told Jared.  “Found the place they made the shot, though.  I got a glimpse.  It’s the Lightning kitsune, whoever he is.”

 

“We need to find him,” Jared croaked out.  He moved to stand up, almost forgetting about Genevieve’s body in his arms.  Jensen caught him, though.

 

He pulled Jared back down to the ground and pried his hands off Genevieve’s dead body.  Carefully, he lifted her away.  Someone else took her.  Jared didn’t bother watching.  She was long gone, after all.  “I have other officers on it,” Jensen told him.  “You need to get some sleep.  Come with me.”

 

Jared refused to budge.  “Can’t you do something?” He asked harshly, fisting his hands and glaring angrily at the ground and the blood spattered across it.  “Can’t you use all that fucking magic everyone says you have and find him?”

 

Jensen sighed, long and weary.  “Magic has consequences, Jared,” he said.  “Heaven kitsunes can draw energy from other things.  That’s how I’m able to connect with elements; there’s life in them.  These images I draw from them _cost_ something.  I drain that life from them.”  He paused.  “I can draw things from people too.  I could have reached into Genevieve’s mind and stolen the information we needed.  But that would have cost her years of her life.  It might have killed her.  I only use that as a _complete_ last resort.”

 

“It’s not like it would have mattered.”  Jared gestured to all the blood on the ground.  “She died anyway.”

 

“Is that really what you think?”  The question was calm, direct, but Jared could feel the disapproval radiating from it.  “You think that just because someone shot her that I should have violated her mind and stolen her life?”

 

Jared buried his face in his hands.  “No,” he finally answered.  “No, I don’t.  God, I just wish we knew who did this.”

 

“Come on.”  Jensen tugged him up by the elbow and pulled him towards the parking garage.  “I texted your sister and told her that you weren’t coming home tonight.  We’re going to my hotel room instead.  You need some space and rest.”

 

Jared hadn’t even known Jensen had kept his hotel room.  He thought about objecting and going home to his mother and sister instead.  Then he thought of having to explain to them, having to see the horror and pity on their faces, and he followed Jensen silently.

 

*

 

Of course, Jensen had the penthouse suite at the nicest hotel in Heaven District.  People stared when he brought Jared in, covered in Genevieve’s blood and a werefox besides.  No one dared to say anything, but Jared felt their eyes on him until Jensen guided him into the elevator with a hand on the small of his back.  “Haven’t they heard it’s rude to stare?” Jared mumbled when the doors slid shut behind them and the elevator began to tick upwards.

 

Jensen snorted.  “Wealth is supposed to come with good manners, but I’ve often found that is _not_ the case.”  He gestured at the golden opulence of the elevator and continued, “it’s also supposed to come with _taste_.”

 

It all felt so strange.  He was standing in the elevator of a five-star kitsune hotel, covered in his dead ex-girlfriend’s blood, and standing next to the most powerful kitsune in the world, who Jared couldn’t help trusting more than he trusted anyone but Meg.  Jared stared unabashedly at Jensen and thought of how he wasn’t at all what he had expected.  How he’d apologized for not finding Genevieve’s killer, how he’d apologized for having _limits_.  He had no idea how someone like Jensen had _happened_.

 

The elevator chimed when it reached the top floor and opened up into the suite.  There were floor to ceiling windows, looking out over the expanse of Dallas.  Without thinking, Jared drifted over to them, pressing one hand up against the glass as he looked out.  From up here, it was hard to tell the difference between the districts; only the harsh dark lines of the walls between them distinguished different areas.

 

He could feel Jensen standing a few feet behind him.  “I’m guessing you’ve never seen the city from this view?” He asked.

 

Jared nodded and his cheek brushed up against the cool glass.  “Meg would love it,” he said.  Even if he had all the money in the world, he couldn’t get them a room here. Only kitsunes were allowed; Jared suspected that the only reason he’d been allowed in was because the management had assumed he was Jensen’s jirai.  He looked back at Jensen, who was looking over the cityscape as well, hands in his pockets and expression distant.  “I’m sure you’ve seen nicer, though.”

 

Jensen shrugged.  “Depends on what you like,” he said.  The lights of the city were reflecting in his eyes.  “I grew up in DC.  So it’s different.”

 

Resting against the windows, Jared felt somehow daring, like there was a chance the glass would actually give and he could fall into the darkness of the city below.  “Meg had this book when she was a kid, about Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt sneaking out of a dinner at the White House and going on a night flight over DC.  There were all these drawings of the city at night.  She was obsessed with them.  She said she wanted to be a pilot for the longest time.”  He didn’t continue after that.  Jensen knew as well as he did that ‘foxes weren’t allowed to be pilots.  Jared tapped the glass with his fingers, listening to the dull sound it made.  “I’ve never even been out of Texas.”

 

Instead of saying something trite like “you should travel more” or “why not,” Jensen took a few steps closer, until he was standing just by Jared’s left shoulder.  “It can be hard to leave your territory,” he commented.  “Especially when you feel like you have to protect it.”

 

Jared tried not to think about it like that.  His house wasn’t his den and Void wasn’t his territory, but to the most primal part of him, that _was_ what they were.  The people there were his to defend, his to take care of.  He’d never even thought of leaving Dallas, even though he’d heard that ‘foxes were better tolerated up north or on the coasts.  Leaving Dallas meant leaving his mother and Meg.  He’d never been able to dream of doing that.

 

He meant to say something else, but “I can’t believe she’s dead” was what came out, whispered against the glass.  Jensen didn't look over at him, but Jared could feel him listening.  Once he got started, it seemed to pour out of him.  “She was always one of those people who could make the most boring situation seem interesting, because she was so excited and enthusiastic about everything.  I remember how she’d be when we used to study together; she hated it, really.  She was never big on math or english or school in general.  But she’d get ridiculously excited about making up these little games to help us learn.  And a lot of times they’d end up distracting us more than anything else, but god…  those are some of my best memories of her.”  He laughed hoarsely, leaning his forehead against the glass and breathing out harshly.  “Maybe that was why I never noticed how she was with Mark.  I just expected her to always find a way to make it perfect.”

 

Jensen didn’t respond for a while.  In fact, Jared didn’t think he was going to respond at all, until finally he said, slowly and carefully, “We have to prioritize things, Jared.  Your attention was on your job and your family.  It was on things that had more bearing on your life.”  When Jared began to speak up, Jensen hushed him with one firm look.  “That’s not selfish.  Being selfish is when you act without thinking or considering the effect your actions might have on others.  You did think about that.  Perhaps you didn’t predict _correctly_ , but you weren’t being selfish with your choices.  You were doing your best.  And perhaps it wasn’t the right series of choices in the end; who can say?  She might have ended up unhappy with you as well.”  Jensen’s tongue swiped over his lower lip.  “You’ve heard of the Butterfly Effect?”

 

“Meg has mentioned it a few times.”  Jared tried to think back and remember what exactly the point of it had been.  “Basically, it’s that anything can end up affecting anything, right?”

 

“You could look at it that way,” Jensen agreed.  “It’s a part of a field of mathematics called ‘Chaos Theory.’  The Butterfly Effect itself is named such because a mathematician explained it using the example of a formation of a hurricane that was dependent upon a butterfly flapping its wings a few weeks previously.  In other words, large events can be contingent on very small details.”  Jensen was gesturing a bit as he spoke, more than Jared had seen him do before.  He somehow seemed looser.  “Do you blame the butterfly for the hurricane, Jared?  Sure, it didn’t know, but the hurricane would _not_ have happened without it.  On the other hand though…”  He looked straight at Jared, green eyes as intense as they’d been that very first day.  “Perhaps it had nowhere to land.  Perhaps if it had stopped flapping its wings, it would have died.  Perhaps the butterfly had to make a choice and it chose life.  Do you fault it?”

 

Jensen wasn’t being subtle about his point.  Biting down on his lower lip, Jared shook his head.  “No,” he whispered.  “It couldn’t have known.  It was just a damn butterfly.”

 

Humming, Jensen reached over and brushed Jared’s hair away from his face, eyes watching closely as he did so.  “Perhaps a fox picking up some moss for his den would be a better analogy in this particular case.  The butterfly was just trying to live, after all.  The fox was trying to _build_ something.”  Jensen smiled, close-lipped as always, but it was still soft and fond.  “I think trying to build something is admirable.  I think it’s a good thing.  Don’t you?”

 

“I guess you just have to be careful that you’re not tearing something else down in order to build it,” Jared answered, and leaned into where Jensen’s hand was resting along his jaw.  Jensen watched him like he was something new, something dangerous.  And Jared wanted him desperately.  He wanted to wash all the horror of the day away with something _good_.  “I think this is what they call a carpe diem moment,” he murmured and surprised a short laugh out of Jensen.  Jared even saw a brief flash of teeth as Jensen’s thumb swept over his cheek.

 

“I believe it is,” Jensen agreed.  “Although perhaps ‘carpe noctem’ might be more appropriate.”  He took another step closer.  “Don’t be afraid to build things though, Jared,” he said seriously.  “You have the right to want a safe den and family just as much as anyone else.”

 

“What do _you_ want?” Jared whispered back, because he honestly had no idea.  Jensen seemed like the man who had everything.

 

Jensen smiled a funny little smile that pulled to one side of his face more than the other.  He reached up with his other hand to cup Jared’s face in his palms.  “Well,” he said, “I think I’ve made that pretty clear, haven’t I?”  The way his eyes lingered on Jared didn’t leave any question to what he meant.  “I’d like to spend tonight with you, Jared, if that’s what you want as well.”

 

“And here I thought you were just ‘not opposed’,” Jared breathlessly joked, just before Jensen closed those final few inches and pulled him down into a kiss.

 

Jensen’s lips were plush, soft, and welcoming.  They washed away everything with their butterfly-light touch. It was Jared who surged further forward, deepening the kiss because he just craved _more_.  He _wanted_ and this—the two of them in this hotel room—this wouldn’t hurt anyone.

 

Jared breathed Jensen in unabashedly as they kissed, for the first time cataloguing his scent in that intimate way he’d only known a few others.  Jensen smelled like a Texas clearing at night just before a thunderstorm, like openness, freedom, and just a faint hint of power.  Jared placed it in his mind like a box, just a bit behind the box with the knowledge of Meg’s scent (spicy cinnamon melting under the of the sun in the full heat of summer) and the box with his mother’s (soft lavender hidden between the folds of cotton shirts in an old wood wardrobe).  He fisted his hands in Jensen’s stiff shirt, pulling him closer as he tasted him and scented him as thoroughly as he could.

 

Only when Jensen pulled back did Jared realized that he’d half-shifted in his desperation to smell Jensen more deeply.  Jensen reached up, tracing his extended fangs with curious fingers.  “I’m sorry,” Jared muttered, pulling his fox back in.

 

Jensen shook his head though.  “Don’t apologize.  If I could scent you better, I would too.”  He nudged in underneath the curve of Jared’s jaw and took an audible breath in.  “Has anyone ever told you what you smell like?”  Wordlessly, Jared shook his head slightly, careful not to dislodge Jensen.  Scents were personal; they weren’t discussed normally.  Even Jensen seemed to understand the significance of the moment because his voice was low and husky as he spoke.  “Whenever I smell you, I think of this big tree that was in my backyard as a child.  It was tall—towered over the house, even.  And there were all sorts of animals that lived there, in its branches and under its roots.  And there was me, of course.  I didn’t have any siblings; my parents worked a lot.  So I used to nearly live in that tree.  During the night, I would count the stars from its branches.  When the sun rose, I climbed as high as I could to watch it.  During the day, I would sit up there and talk to the animals.”  Jensen nuzzled into Jared further, rubbing his lips up against the hinge of Jared’s jaw.  “There were a family of foxes that used to live in a burrow under its roots.  I spent a whole week with them, in my other form.  They thought I was just one of them.  They took care of me like I was one of their kits.  I stayed snuggled up in their den with them until people came looking and dragged me away.  But I would go back to that den whenever I was feeling sad, because it smelled like family and home inside.”  He paused, and moved so that he was no longer burrowed into Jared’s throat.  Instead, they were looking eye to eye, breathing into each other’s mouths.  “That’s what you smell like to me, Jared.”

 

 

Jared didn’t have any words.  He opened his mouth as if to speak, but found he couldn’t.  All he could do was pull Jensen closer, burying his hand in his hair and pressing their mouths together, intertwining their tongues in the most intimate kind of caress.  “You’re extraordinary,” he finally mumbled when both their lips were swollen and it was hard to breathe.  It was the best he could give, the most his jumbled mind could come up with to say.

 

“So are you,” Jensen replied and tugged Jared backwards, the two of them moving together like they had practiced it into the bedroom.

 

Jared didn’t bother trying to take the room in, even though he knew it was probably the nicest room he’d ever been in.  It couldn’t compare to Jensen, who kept pulling Jared into him with a deliberateness that Jared had never found in any of his other partners.  There was no doubt in those movements, no slight trepidation.  Jensen _wanted_ him and wasn’t ashamed of it.

 

“I want to…”  Jared paused, looking down at Jensen, who was sprawled on his back on the bed.  There was color high on his cheeks but lust hadn’t made his eyes fuzzy.  Instead, they were perhaps even more intense than they’d ever been.  “Like this,” Jared explained, gesturing to their position.  “I want it like this.”

 

Jensen didn’t bother asking if he was sure.  He just grabbed one of Jared’s arms by the wrist, tilted his head to the side, and dragged his teeth over the exposed veins there, lightly, lovingly.  “Yes,” he agreed, eyes peeking back up at Jared.  “Like this.”

 

Jared threw himself downwards, holding himself up with his arms so that he could kiss Jensen thoroughly, feeling those teeth nip his lips instead.  “Clothes,” he said, once Jensen’s teeth had bruised his lips in a way he’d be feeling the next day.  He pushed himself back up to yank his shirts off and toss them on the floor.  Jensen wasn’t nearly as fast.  If anything, his movements were languid and lazy as he unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off.

 

Languid, yes, but still calculated and deliberately done to make Jared watch him.  Jared did watch, and sat up when Jensen tapped his hips so that he could push his pants down as well.  “You too,” Jensen reminded him, when only his black boxer-briefs remained.  He eyed Jared’s pants with a raised eyebrow.  “Now would be good.”

 

He was really unfairly coherent, Jared thought as he stood up on the bed—instead of getting off and _moving_ —and unbuttoned his jeans.  He didn’t bother teasing the way Jensen had.  He wanted them off _now_.  He shucked them off and pulled off his briefs for good measure as well.  He didn’t feel shy as Jensen looked down his body with greedy eyes; the way Jensen looked at him made him feel _good_ , powerful.  It made him forget the horror of the day, his own grief and powerlessness.  He was going toe-to-toe with the most powerful person in the world, and he was on his back, spread out, for _Jared_.

 

Privately, he was glad Jensen had left his underwear on, because that let Jared ease them slowly down as his legs—they were bowed slightly outwards, which Jared had noticed before, but had never really _noticed_ until that moment—and reveal his cock an inch at a time.  There were _plenty_ of inches.  Jared himself was pretty long, and was probably longer than Jensen, but Jensen was nice and thick.  Jared fisted his hand around the length of him, stroking a few times and watched Jensen’s eyes flutter in perhaps the first helpless movement Jared had ever seen out of him.  He could feel the slightly swollen skin at the base where Jensen’s knot would grow and wondered, absently, how he was going to take it.  Really, the how didn’t matter.  He _would_ take it, _that_ was what mattered.

 

While Jared was absorbed with Jensen’s dick, Jensen had apparently pulled a bottle of lube out of somewhere because he was offering it to Jared.  “You or me?” He asked, voice deeper than usual, and Jared understood him perfectly.

 

“Me,” he said.  “You just watch.”  Maybe some other time he’d let Jensen finger him, but now he just wanted to do it himself and watch Jensen’s eyes on him, the way the green of his irises was absorbed by the black of his pupils.  He wanted to be in control, wanted to choose this moment and choose to move on.

 

Jared lubed up his fingers quickly, trembling a bit at the thought, and reached around behind himself to slide two in at once.  It stung, yes, but Jared liked it.  He’d always liked the stretch, the slight pain of sliding something into himself that wasn’t biologically meant to be there.  There was a challenge to it—asking how much could he take before he would give.  Well, he definitely didn’t plan to give.  He wanted all of it.

 

Jensen was the picture of sensuality under him, eyes fixed on where Jared’s hand disappeared behind him.  He didn’t touch Jared’s cock, but he did reach up and grasp onto Jared’s upper thigh, squeezing occasionally.  That small touch seemed to heighten instead of distract; each time Jared hit his prostate, he’d buck forward into that hand and feel those fingers digging into his skin.  It grounded him in Jensen.

 

He only bothered to give himself two fingers.  He didn’t _want_ anymore.  He wanted Jensen and, from the way Jensen’s nails were biting into Jared’s thigh, even though the kitsune’s expression was still somewhat controlled, he was reaching the end of his patience as well.  “Jensen,” Jared said, unable to help himself, and Jensen’s eyes snapped up to meet his as Jared lowered himself down on Jensen’s cock.

 

Jared wasn’t going to bother playing at slow and soft.  He brought Jensen’s other hand up to hold onto his other thigh and then rode Jensen fast and hard, almost viciously so.  The other man hissed at the first slam back downwards, eyes glowing for just a moment before Jared pulled himself back up.  This, what they had, whatever it was, it didn’t need slow to be meaningful.  Jared wanted it fast, he wanted it cleansing, and he would _have_ it that way.

 

“Jared,” Jensen growled, and the man under him was clearly not _just_ a man.  He was an animal, with the way he was holding onto Jared and urging him on with rough growls and snarls.  Jared growled back, deep enough that it almost sounded like a purr instead.  He swiveled his hips cruelly, which backfired when Jensen’s cock dug into his prostate, making him yelp.  It was really _too much_ , which only made Jared grit his teeth and grind down so that Jensen’s cock did the same thing again, and again, and again—

 

The grinding was making Jensen’s knot chub up at the base of his cock, expanding a little each time Jared rotated his hips.  “Too much?” Jensen asked breathlessly when Jared wasn’t able to hold in a little whimper, still managing to sound cocky and at the same time extremely turned on, even though he had to be moments from coming.

 

“Nothing you can give me is too much,” Jared replied stubbornly and clenched down on Jensen’s knot, making Jensen’s body jerk upwards involuntarily.  Jared grinned savagely down at him as he panted, “I can take anything you give me.”

 

“I know you can,” Jensen told him, eyes burning hot and voice laced with pride and something like possession.  His hands moved up to latch onto Jared’s hips, helping him with the grinding movement.  “C’mon, Jared.  _Take_ it.”

 

Jared stopped holding himself up at all, even the small inch he had been.  He just sat down, his ass hitting the smooth planes of Jensen’s thighs.  “Come up here,” he demanded, and Jensen sat up in one smooth motion, shifting his cock inside Jared as he kissed him harshly.  Jensen ate up Jared’s small cries with his mouth as his knot swelled within Jared and finally reached full size.

 

Jared himself felt almost swollen with it, like his body had been forced to expand.  He curled into Jensen as Jensen reached a hand down and jerked his cock, making sure to linger at the base where Jared’s own cock was already halfway knotted.   Jensen’s hand coaxed him into knotting with a knowing firmness and Jared bit down on the curve of his neck when he came, all stardust and lightning.

 

“Fuck,” Jared finally whispered, clutching onto Jensen's shoulders as he felt Jensen's cock pump come into him.  Jared was still coming himself, but his knot would go down quickly without Jensen’s ass milking it.  “I’ve never done that before,” he admitted.

 

“Knotting or being knotted?” Jensen asked, and Jared was gratified to hear that his voice was pretty wrecked as well, like all that growling had made him hoarse.

 

“Being knotted.”  Jared shifted where he was, experimenting with how Jensen felt inside him now that he wasn’t hard himself.  “I never really…”  He trailed off, not wanting to admit that he’d never trusted anyone like he trusted Jensen.

 

Jensen’s hand slid through Jared’s come on his stomach.  “I’ve never either,” he returned, voice matter-of-fact.  “I thought about it, back when I was getting bored with sex, but never really thought any of them were worth putting up with for more than the thirty or so minutes sex took.”

 

Jared chuckled into Jensen’s neck.  “Your fine sense of your own superiority?”

 

“Mmmm,” Jensen hummed agreeably.  “I like it though.  Here with you.”  He didn’t sound surprised, like he’d expected it would be different with Jared.  Like it was only _natural_ that it would be different with Jared.  He didn’t say anything else though, just kept humming a song Jared vaguely recognized.

 

The tune was soothing, and when Jensen eased them down to lay on the bed instead of sitting up, Jared was asleep in moments.

 

*

 

Jared woke to the loud buzzing of Jensen’s cellphone.  He ignored it, nestling closer to Jensen.  It stopped ringing, thankfully, but Jared groaned when it started ringing again only two seconds later.

 

Pushing himself up on his elbows, Jared glared down at the floor, where Jensen’s pants, phone apparently in them, were piled.  As he moved to get it, he realized Jensen must have stayed awake after him; his stomach was clean of come and his ass had also been subjected to a washcloth.  He blushed at the thought as he dug into Jensen’s pocket; there was something very dirty about Jensen cleaning him up while he was asleep.

 

He tried to make it sound like he hadn’t just woken up when he answered the phone.  After all, it was nine-thirty in the morning—god, they were late to work—and most decent people were already awake.  “Hello?” He said roughly.  “Jensen isn’t able to come to the phone at the moment, but I can take a message if you want—”

 

“Jared,” the voice cut in and, with a shock, Jared realized he knew it.  It was Charles.  His hand tightened around the phone.  He couldn’t imagine why Charles would be calling him.  “Aldis told me I might be able to reach you at this number.”

 

Jared couldn’t even think to be embarrassed about that.  “Charles, why are you calling?  Is something wrong?”

 

There was a pause on the other end of the line that meant something was most _definitely_ wrong.  “Look, Jared, you need to stay calm, okay,” Charles said, guaranteeing that Jared would _not_ be able to stay calm.  “I got a call from your mother this morning.  Apparently she went into your sister’s room this morning and… Look, there’s no easy way to say this.  I’m in Meg’s room right now.  She’s been kidnapped.”

 

For what seemed like a minute, Jared couldn’t breathe.  He couldn’t move or think either.  He just stood there, holding Jensen’s phone like a lifeline.  “No,” he protested finally.  “No, she’s fine.  We caught one of the killers last night.  She’s got to be fine.”  He didn’t care that Charles didn’t have any idea of the connection between the murderers and Meg; he just had to _prove_ to him that he was wrong.

 

“Jared,” Charles said firmly, “there’s no evidence that there’s anything wrong with her.  We know she was taken because there are signs of a struggle, but we haven’t found any blood.  I need you to pull yourself together and come down here if you can, answer some questions so we can start trying to find suspects.”

 

Swallowing, Jared nodded helplessly.  “Right, right.  Charles, look.  The murderers?  They were trying to frame Meg.  The one we caught… she said it was the other one’s idea.”

 

There was a quiet for a second.  “So you think it’s him,” Charles summed up.  He huffed out a loud sigh.  “Shit.”

 

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Jared told him and hung up fiercely.  He jerked on his clothes and shook Jensen awake as soon as he was somewhat dressed.  When Jensen blinked blearily up at him, Jared shook him again.  “Meg’s been kidnapped.”

 

 _That_ got him up quick enough.  He shot to his feet, pulling on clothing with the same aimless speed as Jared was.  “Where was she taken?” He asked Jared as he grabbed his keys and pulled on his shoes.

 

“The house,” Jared told him.  He fidgeted as Jensen ushered him into the elevator and it began to slowly tick downwards.  He tapped his foot against the ground and watched the numbers counting down.  “Charles—my old partner at the DPDFU—he’s there right now.  Signs of a struggle, but no blood.”

 

He wasn’t looking at Jensen, so he couldn’t see how he responded to the information.  Perhaps he was nodding.  Perhaps he was staring at Jared.  Perhaps he was thinking about the Butterfly Effect again—how them sleeping together and not being at the house was probably the reason Meg had been kidnapped.  “Do you think he heard that I wasn’t going back to my house last night?” Jared blurted out, unable to help himself.  “He had to have, right?  He wouldn’t have gone if you were there.”

 

“ _Jared_.”  Jensen’s voice wasn’t harsh, but it cut through Jared’s guilt.  “First, no one outside the department that wasn’t a member of your family knew I was staying at your house.  Second, he probably headed there right after killing Genevieve.  We combed the area for long enough that he could easily have gotten to Void before we had even left.  If we’d gone back to yours, we would have gone right to sleep anyway, because it was late.  The result would most likely have been the same.”

 

“You don’t know that,” Jared protested.  “There’s no way you can know that for sure.”

 

“Exactly.”  Jensen’s hand wrapped around his upper arm and dug in.  “ _You_ can’t know either.  We have no idea what prompted his decision to take Meg.  So _stop_ _blaming yourself_.”

 

Jared didn’t agree or disagree, just kept chewing on his lower lip.  When the elevator jolted to a stop, he darted out, nearly racing for the car.  Jensen was on his heels.  As soon as they were in the car, Jensen threw it into drive.  His efficiency hadn’t dimmed, but he definitely drove more quickly than he had the previous times Jared had driven with him.  He sped towards the Void gates and flashed police ID at the waystation so they weren’t stopped.

 

The car screeched to a stop in front of Jared’s house, and Jared knew any kind of low profile Jensen had had in Void was destroyed.  He didn’t care; all he cared about was getting Meg back as fast as possible.  Knowing her, she wasn’t even playing it safe.  She was probably mouthing off to her captor and trying to escape.  He was both proud of her and furious; she needed to stay safe until he could come rescue her.  She couldn’t risk herself.  It was still within the first forty-eight hours; he would find her.

 

Shelia was standing in front of the door, hair a mess and face devastated.  She threw herself at Jared, sobbing uncontrollably.  “I knew something like this would happen!” She wailed, beating her hands against Jared’s chest.  “You told me it would be fine but I _knew_!”  Despite the little arm strength she had, her fists hurt.  Jared let her keep going, let her vent herself on him.

 

A few seconds later, a waft of perfume floated over them and firm hands pulled Shelia away.  “Shelia, sweetheart, you come with me,” Sam said, her voice warm and soothing.  As Jared’s mother collapsed into her arms, she looked sternly up at Jensen.  “You get Meg back, you hear?  You do your job and get Meg back.”

 

“I will,” Jensen said, and he sounded so confident that Jared was able to breathe a little easier.  “I’ve never had an unsolved case before and I don’t intend to let Meg be my first.”  With that, he slid past them, heading into the house with the kind of clear authority that made the DPDFU officers that were already on the scene make way for him.

 

After nodding mutely at Sam, Jared followed him.  A few of the cops greeted him with reassurances and condolences.  Jared ignored them, not stopping until he was in Meg’s room, where Jensen was speaking to Charles.

 

“—window forced open from the outside.  You can clearly see that she fought, there are a few scratch marks on the wall, but I can smell chloroform, so I think she passed out pretty quick and he was able to get her out quietly.  Other than that, he clearly covered his scent with something else, ‘cause all I can smell is the faint hint of chloroform, Meg, and lavender.”  Charles didn’t look a bit intimidated to be talking to Jensen Ackles.  He was reporting in the same clear efficient way he did to the chief.  “If you have any other insights…”

 

“I’m going to try a few things,” Jensen told him.  “Although I doubt they’ll be able to reveal much more.”  Kneeling down, he grasped the wood of Meg’s bedframe.  “I’ll buy you a new one,” he said to Jared before he closed his eyes.  Jared didn’t understand until he watched the wood rot and age under Jensen’s hands.  He hadn’t watched the materials the previous two times he’d seen Jensen do this, and it was a bit horrifying to witness.  He imagined seeing that done to a person and felt a bit sick.

 

“What is he doing?” Charles asked Jared, looking equally shocked.  “What’ll it do to destroy her bed?”

 

Jared explained quietly, not knowing if noise would hurt Jensen’s concentration; “he can draw images from things that used to be living or that are living.  But he has to drain energy to do that, so…”

 

“You mean…”  Charles’s eyes were wide.  “You mean, he could watch the whole crime take place, just like that?”

 

“Pretty much.”

 

Jensen released the wood and it crumbled away, the bedframe slumping to one side.  “You were right, Detective Whitfield.  He forced the window open, climbed in, and then, as Meg was beginning to wake up, pressed chloroform over her face.  She fought, but it took effect pretty quickly and he dragged her out.”  Jensen paused, sighing and dragging a hand over his face.  “Unfortunately, he was wearing all black and a ski mask, so I couldn’t see much else.  And he didn’t use magic, so I can’t sense anything.”  He looked irritated at his own lack of ability to see more.  “I can tell you that it was fairly late at night.  Somewhere between eleven and two, I’d say.”

 

“Confirmation of my ideas and a time frame is good enough,” Charles answered, not pumping Jensen’s ego, but seemingly actually impressed.  “So you can’t tell whether it was a kitsune or a werefox?”  When Jared opened his mouth, Charles held up a hand.  “I know, you think it’s a kitsune, but we need to know which department is going to work this.”

 

Jensen let out a loud irritated snort at that.  “I’m nearly positive it’s the same person I saw before at the other crime scenes.  Either way, it doesn’t matter.  I want the best of both departments working this.”  He looked up at Charles.  “Tell your chief that you’re going with us to talk to the DKPD and that it’s going to be a joint case.”

 

Charles stared at him for a moment, bemused, before Jensen raised an eyebrow, clearly questioning why he wasn’t already doing what Jensen had asked.  Then, Charles strode out of the room, probably heading for Jared’s home phone.  Jensen and Jared were left looking at each other.  “So, the time frame,” Jared said.

 

Jensen waved a hand.  “If it was after one… maybe we would have been here.  Before that?  No way.”  He shook his head.  “Either way, we might have just fallen asleep and not noticed.  Stop feeling guilty about it and _start working the case_.”

 

It was harsh, perhaps, but it was what Jared needed.  He nodded jerkily.  “Right.  So.  We know he was in Thunder District in order to kill Gen.  He hid from us, then came over here, took Meg…”

 

“He’d need to have a car, in order to take Meg away without attracting notice,” Jensen commented sensibly.  “He doesn’t know that _we_ know he’s a Lightning kitsune either.”

 

Jared didn’t even grimace when he realized the kind of work Jensen was implying.  Anything was better than nothing.  “Waystation records,” he surmised, and Jensen nodded.  “Right.  Better get to the station then.”

 

Before they left the house entirely, Jensen insisted on talking to all of the cops.  Most of them looked absurdly frightened, not necessarily because they knew who Jensen was, but _definitely_ because they’d caught a glimpse of his cuff.  He breezed past all their wariness and got straight to the point, telling them _exactly_ whatinformation he wanted collected and that reports were to be faxed over to the DKPD as soon as possible.  He also mentioned that the DPDFU would be kept on the case, so Jared assumed he was satisfied with the way they did things.  Jared wasn’t able to pay attention to it for too long, though.  He was antsy; he needed to be doing work, to be searching for his sister.  When Jensen finally finished, he nearly bolted for the car.

 

Charles was the one in the backseat this time.  He appeared to be in a permanent state of confusion because he kept glancing between Jared and Jensen like he couldn’t quite figure either one of them out.  When they got to the station, Jared hopped out before Jensen could even turn the car off and Charles was right behind him.  When Jared looked at him, the other man shrugged.  “You do realize you reek of sex, right?”

 

Jared hadn’t even _thought_ about showering before leaving that morning, but he realized quickly that, to sensitive ‘fox noses, even those trying _not_ to smell him still would.  “Sorry,” he said, not actually all that apologetic.  “Didn’t have time.”

 

Nodding, Charles looked sympathetic, yet still curious.  “I just… didn’t expect you would do that with _him_.”

 

Jared bristled.  Already on edge about Meg, he didn’t need anyone commenting on his sex life and the choices he’d made.  “Well, I didn’t exactly expect _him_ at all.  So—”

 

Charles held up his hands.  “I’m not judging you,” he said calmly.  “Just commenting.”

 

Jared didn’t a chance to reply before Jensen was exiting the car and striding without pause into the station.  Jared followed right on his heels.  They took the stairs, jogging up because they were both too impatient to take the elevator.  When they burst into the station, everyone’s heads went up.

 

“Aldis,” Jensen called out.  “We have a new information.  We believe our kitsune perp kidnapped someone last night—one Meg Padalecki—”

 

“Megara,” Jared cut in.  When Jensen looked at him, he explained, “her name will be Megara in the system.”

 

“Right,” Jensen said, and turned back to Aldis.  “She was kidnapped last night, just after Genevieve Pellegrino’s murder.  We need to look through the waystation reports for Lightning kitsunes entering Void last night after Genevieve’s shooting—”

 

“Wait one moment!”  Chief Pileggi had thankfully been staying in his office as of late, but he had to choose _this_ moment to reappear.  Jared had to fight the urge to curl his lip up and show his teeth.  Pileggi stomped over to where they were standing, frowning deeply.  “General, you know I have the deepest respect for you.  But this case is _not_ one our department is responsible for.  Moreover—” his eyes swept over to look at Charles with disgust “—I have no idea why you brought this _‘fox_ into our department when we have plenty of capable detectives here—”

 

“You’re fired.”

 

The words rang out, stopping Pileggi’s speech in its tracks.  He stared at Jensen open-mouthed, looking like nothing so much as a giant flailing fish.  “What?” He finally managed to sputter out.

 

Jensen waved a dismissive hand, not even looking at him anymore.  “I don’t have time to do this properly and I don’t need your kind of stupidity around while I work.  So you’re fired.  Get out.”  He turned to Aldis.  “Aldis, you’ll be Chief of Police from now on.  Congratulations on your promotion.”

 

The rest of the department was nearly frozen, Aldis and Charles included, but Jared took another look at Pileggi’s face and couldn’t help laughing, almost hysterically.  This, of course, only made Pileggi even more furious.  Growling, he launched himself at Jared.  Jared didn’t even think about it—he punched Pileggi in the face, breaking his nose and spraying blood across Jared’s already-ruined shirt.

 

Jared thought he caught an approving glance from Jensen before the man was hooking his hand in the back of Pileggi’s shirt and pulling him forcibly away.  “You two—” he pointed at Kane and Carlson “—escort him out of the station.  He can come in and pick up his things another day when he isn’t going to be stupid enough to assault a police officer.”

 

They had to nearly _drag_ him out.  Pileggi was spewing filth as he went, but Jared tuned it out.  He looked at Jensen gratefully, but the kitsune was already in action again. “Waystation reports.  Now,” he barked.  Then he nodded to Charles.  “Go ahead and call your chief, if you want.  I mean to keep an open line of communication during this.”

 

It was a few moments before Jared looked around and frowned.  “Aldis,” he said, pulling the other man out of his shocked stupor.  “Where’s Chad?”  The blond was conspicuously absent and Jared wanted his friend there for him to lean on.

 

“Uh…”  Aldis seemed to have to think about it.  “Oh, right, he called in earlier and said that he was drained from yesterday and had a migraine, so he was taking the day off.”

 

Jared frowned.  “Jensen’s gonna be pissed.”  To be honest, _he_ was pissed.  They were in the middle of an important investigation; no matter how much Chad didn’t like Jensen, or whatever his problem was, he shouldn’t be pulling sick days.

 

“To be honest, I don’t really think he’ll notice.”  If Jensen was normally like a computer, then he was now a computer with super high-speed.  He was moving around the room as efficiently as ever, but at seemingly twice the speed.  Aldis shook his head.  “We should get to work.”

 

The lump in Jared’s stomach came back to the forefront of his mind.  He’d been distracted by Pileggi and the other general chaos, but nothing could keep his thoughts from Meg for long.  He settled down, grabbing at the documents that were coming in from the DPDFU and scanned them for anything useful.  Even though the words wanted to blur before his eyes, he refused to let them.  He _needed_ to focus, find the killer, and save Meg.

 

He _had_ to.

 

*

 

Several hours later, there was still nothing new.  They’d gone over the sheets from the Void waystations multiple times, but there was nothing there.  The Lightning kitsunes they’d found had had _extremely_ solid alibis.  The entire department was getting frustrated, and Jared most of all.

 

The first forty-eight hours were crucial in a kidnapping.  If they didn’t find Meg soon, chances were they wouldn’t find her at all, or they’d only find her body.  They knew that she’d been kidnapped by a man who seemed to have no qualms about killing and clearly had a grudge against Meg or Jared.

 

It got to the point where Jared just couldn’t stay seated.  He jolted out of his chair and grabbed his jacket, shrugging over his shirt.  “I need to move,” he told Jensen.  “I’m gonna go walk in some residential areas and see if I can sniff Meg out.”  It wasn’t likely that it would work, but it was better than sitting and feeling useless.

 

Jensen looked like he wanted to object, but instead he nodded slowly.  “Take this.”  He tossed Jared his cell phone.  “Call if you smell anything or see anything.”

 

“I will,” Jared promised.  He knew what Jensen wanted to say: that they were more likely to find the killer through paperwork than wandering.  He also knew that without new data, without some kind of ‘a-ha!’ moment, they weren’t going to get anywhere with what they had.

 

He pounded the pavement, nearly storming across Thunder District.  He doubted the killer lived in Thunder; it was the least affluent of all the ‘tsune districts and Lightning kitsune were normally part of families with a decent bit of ancestral wealth.  At the same time, he doubted the killer lived in Heaven either.  Because of its central location, there was limited room in Heaven and the large mansions were mostly occupied by families.  The killer probably lived somewhere by himself, where there wouldn’t be others who could potentially find or see Meg.

 

Jared knew there was a good deal of bachelor housing for wealthy single kitsunes in River District, right next to Thunder, so he headed that way.  He kept seeing Meg in every tall, brown-haired girl who walked by.  He tried just to keep himself from looking but then he thought “what if?”  Even though he knew it was unrealistic, he scanned the passersby for any sign of his sister.

 

When he arrived at the waystation, he went to the section for pedestrians and flashed his badge.  They didn’t bother recording him, just opened up the gate so he could go through.

 

Jared froze.

 

“Excuse me?” The waystation attendant said, sounding irritated.  “You can go now!”

 

Instead of passing through into River, Jared walked up to the attendant’s booth.  “You didn’t take my details,” he said, probably too intensely, because the attendant looked like she thought he was crazy.  “You don’t _ever_ take police details, right?  You just let them through?”

 

“Well…”  The girl’s eyes darted from side to side, like she thought he was going to attack her or something.  “That is the policy.  We’re not supposed to slow down police investigations in order to check everything.”

 

“So, in other words,” Jared continued ruthlessly, “if a man drives through and flashes his badge, you won’t stop him.  You’ll just let him go, even if he _isn’t_ in a police car.”

 

The attendant looked affronted.  “As I’m sure you well know,” she said snottily, “some police officers—namely _detectives_ —drive in unmarked vehicles.  So, yes, we’re supposed to let them through too!”

 

Jared didn’t bother to thank her.  Instead, he raced into River, even though he could hear her shouting behind him.  Maybe she would call the police.  Which, really, would actually be helpful.

 

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it earlier.  How he hadn’t put the pieces together ages ago was beyond him.  After all, he _knew_ aLightning kitsune, didn’t he?  One who had known Meg _and_ Genevieve.  One who was a _detective_ , which meant he could go in and out of districts without suspicion.  Someone who would have known that they were going to bring Genevieve in and thus wouldn’t have showed up to his murderous rendezvous with Gen.

 

Or, actually, he had.  Just not in the way Genevieve had been expecting.

 

Jared cursed under his breath as he ran.  He remembered the way Genevieve had hesitated when she’d seen Chad.  At the time, he’d thought it was because she was so surprised, but, no, it had been because _he was her partner_.  All along, it had _always_ been Chad.

 

Genevieve had said that the kitsune had found her before she’d killed Gauthier.  It had been odd, where they’d found Gauthier.  They’d found him in the ballroom, which made _no_ sense.  _Unless_ , perhaps, he’d heard something.  He wouldn’t have gone looking for it, no, Gauthier hadn’t been that kind of man.  _Perhaps_ he’d gone downstairs because he’d heard a noise and had run from it—down to the same phone the butler had called them with, which, if Jared remembered correctly, had been right by the ballroom.

 

Jared could see it in his mind—Gauthier calling the police, Chad showing up, finding Genevieve, making his bargain.  After that… as one of the detectives assigned to the case, it would have been easy for Chad to lead them astray.  Well, perhaps not _so_ easy.  Jared remembered how odd it was that Chad, easily twice as powerful as Aldis, hadn't been able to sense the magic at the scene.  He hadn’t counted on Jared and he _definitely_ hadn’t counted on Jensen.

 

He’d still managed to throw them a few red herrings.  He’d been the one to find the letters at Tapping’s, and the one to suggest Sandy and Johnson as suspects.  All his shifty behavior, how bitchy he’d been the previous day… and _god_ , he hadn’t been there to escort Genevieve to jail with Aldis.  Aldis had said he was in the bathroom, but it would have been _easy_ for Chad to sneak outside and shoot her; then, he could have just joined in looking for the shooter without anyone expecting a thing.  After all, he was one of _them._

 

“Fuck!” Jared shouted as he ran towards the more expensive part of River.  He knew where Chad lived; he’d gone there right after Chad’s parents had bought it for him.  It was a decent sized house and Chad lived there alone.  He could _easily_ keep Meg there without suspicion.

 

He’d called in sick to work.  _Fuck_.

 

The cellphone in his pocket hit his leg as he was running.  Jared dug it out as he ran, not stopping to better coordinate anything.  He dialed in the number for the desk phone he and Jensen had been using at the DKPD and listened to it ring.

 

Jensen picked up quickly.  “Hello?” He said, voice professional as always.

 

“It’s Chad,” Jared blurted out.  “It’s Chad, he’s the kitsune that Gen was working with, he’s the one that has Meg.”

 

“Jared!”  There was a rustle on the other end of the line and Jensen’s voice was bitingly intense.  “Jared, does he have you?  How do you—”

 

“Waystations,” Jared panted.  “Police don’t get recorded.”  He glanced around.  He was nearing Chad’s neighborhood.  “He lives in River alone.  He’s got to have her at his house.”

 

“Jared, don’t do anything stupid—” Jensen cautioned him, but Jared hung up before he could say anything more.  _Don’t do anything stupid_.  Hadn’t he said that to Chad just the day before Jensen had arrived?  He’d warned him, not knowing that the whole time the man he thought was his friend had just been planning to frame his sister for multiple homicide.

 

The facts all fit, but Jared couldn’t find a motive.  What had Meg ever done to Chad?  What had _Jared_ ever done to Chad, except be his friend?  Jared couldn’t figure out Chad’s motive.

 

The sun was still shining brightly when Jared arrived at Chad’s house.  It seemed so wrong that this would happen on a beautiful, sunny day.  Jared didn’t have his mother or Meg’s fine-tuned sense of drama, but even he knew this was supposed to happen on a stormy night, with the hero running through the rain to save the damsel in distress. But no, all he was running through were heat and quiet.

 

Chad’s house was similarly innocuous-looking.  A simple white two-story, it didn’t scream either _Chad_ or _backstabbing murderer_ to Jared.  The only suspicious thing about it was the tall shrubbery around the sides—which was convenient for Jared, he had to admit—and the gate in front.  Most of the other houses had gates and shrubbery as well; an advantage of coming from wealth, Jared assumed.  Most young men seemed to value their privacy, even if the only thing they used it for was to fuck girls in their backyard without having to worry about being spied on.

 

Glancing around, Jared noticed that the neighborhood was mostly deserted.  In fact, he couldn’t see one person in a house or on the street.  It gave him the courage to scale the fence, completely ignoring the automated front gate.  As soon as he was over, he slipped into the hedges, inching his way towards the backyard.

 

The entire back of Chad’s house was made of glass.  Because of the trees and hedges, no one would be able to see in from one of the other houses, even with the showy extravagance.  However, it did mean that _Jared_ could see in, from his place on the edge of the shrubbery.

 

Meg was there.

 

She was sitting, tied up, in a chair on the first floor room.  She was facing outwards so she was looking out on the backyard.  Jared suspected it was so that she wouldn’t be able to see when her captor entered the room.  With her hearing, she’d know, but it would be more frightening for her when she didn’t have him in her sights.  Her face was red, the same color it always turned when she was furious, but she was also crying, tears bubbling out of her eyes and trailing down onto her cheeks.  Occasionally, she’d struggle fiercely in the chair, as if she was hoping that a minute’s wait had loosened the ropes.  However, from what Jared could see of the knots, they only tightened when she pulled on them, and so she was forced to settle back down and wait again for a number of minutes.

 

She was also gagged.  Jared’s stomach turned when he realized that it was the fabric of the shirt that had been used to implicate her in the crimes.  It eliminated the last trace of doubt he had about Chad being the other murderer.

 

Jared wanted to just barge in and save Meg, but he knew better.  If he had been Meg, maybe he would have been impulsive enough to forget that they needed evidence if this went to court.  The word of two ‘foxes against a kitsune would need as much support as possible.

 

He fumbled the phone out of his pocket and snapped a few shaky pictures of Meg where she was being held, and forwarded them to Meg’s own cell, which had been taken into evidence by the DPDFU.  Even if Chad somehow managed to get his cellphone from him, the police would still have those pictures.

 

He scoped out of the downstairs area of Chad’s house, at least what he could see of it.  He was dismayed to see there was only one door in, other than the door he’d seen in front.  It was right in the center of the house and in front of Meg as well.  Jared knew a trap when he saw one.  There was no way he was going to break in without at least his gun to back him up.  Reluctantly, he decided that waiting for Jensen and the troops was the best idea.  He’d just wait where he was and ensure that Meg didn’t come to harm.

 

Nearly as soon as he had decided, Chad entered the room.  He still looked the same.  He was even dressed casually, the same way he would when he and Jared had hung out in the past.  Of course, the gun in his hand was a bit different than Jared was used to seeing.

 

Slowly, deliberately, Chad lifted the gun and cocked it at Meg’s head.  He’d obviously made some kind of sound, because her struggles began anew.  She thrashed against the ropes, her jaw working in a way that made Jared think she was screaming.  He couldn’t hear a thing; the soundproofing was too good.  However, he could read lips, and it was fairly easy to understand when Chad looked directly over at where he was crouching and mouthed, “ _Jared, come out_.”  He couldn’t have mistaken that if he’d wanted to.

 

He didn’t bother hiding his movements.  He simply stood and walked slowly over to the door.  Meg spotted him instantly, and her eyes lit up with something—hope or horror, he couldn’t tell.  He pulled the door open and slid inside, raising his hands in the air as soon as Chad aimed the gun at him.  “Chad,” he said, because there wasn’t much else to say.  “Chad, what are you doing?”

 

“What, you can’t figure it out?” Chad spat, bitter and ugly.  “You figure everything else out, Jared.  You can’t wrap your head around this?”  The way he held the gun was too casual; he moved it slightly as he was speaking, as if he was still unable to get over his habit of waving his hands when he talked, even in a moment like this.  “Come on, Jared.  Think on it.”

 

Jared’s eyes flickered to Meg, who was staring right back.  This was his little sister, the same girl who he’d taught to tie her shoelaces and carried home from school when she had a bad day.  “All I know,” Jared said slowly, “is that everything you ever said to me was a lie.  I know you manipulated Gen and then killed her.  I know you’ve got some kind of grudge against me—”

 

“Grudge?”  Chad’s eyebrows flew high, and then he burst out laughing, eyes crinkling half-shut.  Jared contemplated using the distraction to grab Meg, but Chad recovered before he could take more than two steps forward.  “Don’t move!” Chad barked, instantly serious once more.  “Don’t play the fucking hero, Jared.  Don’t be _stupid_.”  His lips curved up around the last word.  “You told me not to be stupid and I wasn’t.  I was really fucking _smart_ , wasn’t I, Jared?”

 

“It looks a lot like stupidity from where I’m standing,” Jared argued.  He gestured at Meg and then at the room around them.  “You killed two people and planned to kill a third.  You tried to frame my sister for murder and then kidnapped her!  That’s not _smart_ , Chad!”

 

“Ah, ah, ah!”  Chad said in a teasing kind of voice.  It was fucking with Jared’s head.  “But you never guessed it was me, right?  Not until the very last minute.”  He cocked his head to the side.  “How _did_ you figure it out, by the way?”

 

Licking his bottom lip nervously, Jared darted a glance to Meg again.  “If I tell you how I figured it out, will you tell me why you’re doing this?”  He still wasn’t sure _what_ was going on either, but the longer he could keep Chad talking, the more time Jensen would have to get here.

 

“Sure,” Chad agreed with an indulgent shrug.  “I would have told you anyway, but if you want to deal for it, I won’t disagree.”

 

He jerked the gun slightly, like he was urging Jared on, and Jared didn’t hesitate to speak.  “The waystations,” he said plainly.  “You needed a car to get Meg, but there were no records that matched the killer’s— _your_ —description.  But the waystations don’t record police passing through.”

 

Chad looked absolutely delighted.  “Oh man, I was wondering if anyone would catch that one.  Good job, man.”  He sounded sincere about his congratulations for a moment, then his face darkened.  “ _Ackles_ didn’t notice _that_ , did he?  Thinks he’s so smart, but I tricked him.  _Me_.”

 

“Is that what this is all about?” Jared questioned, daring another step forward, but halting when Chad’s gun jerked back to focus on his chest.  He tried to divert Chad’s attention by getting him talking again.  “Is this about Jensen?”

 

“ _Don’t fucking call him that!_ ” Chad screamed.  His fury was so abrupt that Jared was startled into stumbling a few steps back.  “You—you don’t talk about him!  You aren’t _allowed_ to talk about him!”

 

“Okay, okay,” Jared agreed, but Chad wasn’t listening and he just steamrolled on.

 

“He’s there for all of two seconds and you’re all fucking over him, drooling like you’re some fucking _whore_!”  Chad was advancing, getting closer and closer to Meg.  Frantically, Jared tried to gauge the time it would take for him to tackle Chad if it came down to it.  It wasn’t looking good.  “Fucking taking him home with you, probably letting him sleep in your bed.  How long did it take you to let him fuck you, huh?  Just _how_ much of a slut were you for him?”

 

“Chad!”

 

Jared tried to cut in, stop the vitriol pouring from Chad’s mouth, but it was too late.  His mention of Jensen had triggered something and now everything was pouring out.  “I waited fucking _years_ , you know?  I was nice, I was fun, wasn’t I?  I was your _friend_.  And then I made my offer and what do I fucking get?  _Nothing_ , except you suddenly disappearing!”  He took another step forward, pointing the gun accusingly at Jared.  “I did _everything_ right and you fucking told me _no_.”

 

“I don’t understand…”  Jared began.  And then he stopped because suddenly—horribly—he did understand.  He understood Jensen’s little test the other day and the way Chad had never liked Genevieve.  He understood what Gen had desperately been trying to tell him the night before, and he understood what Jensen had meant when he’d made the insinuation about exactly what Chad’s focus was.  He stared at Chad, and as he spoke, it all seemed obvious.

 

How had he not seen it?

 

“You’re in love with me,” he said, “You did all this because you’re in love with me.”  He couldn’t think how to continue, so he just stood there, staring.

 

“Took you long enough,” Chad joked, like this whole thing was something funny.  He paused, looking at Jared expectantly, then sighed.  “This is the part where you’re supposed to say that you love me back, you know.”  He looked down at Meg in the chair and made a face.  “I guess I can sorta see why you wouldn’t, though.  Family kinda kills the mood.”

 

“Yeah, not the problem I’m having,” Jared said slowly.  He started moving, not forward, but to the side, circling around Meg’s chair to the right.  Chad must have been warier of him than he was acting, because he started moving to the left in step with Jared.  “If you _love_ me,” Jared said, emphasizing the word harshly, “then why the _hell_ did you think that framing my sister, forcing my ex to murder people, _killing_ my ex, and then kidnapping my _sister_ was the way to my heart?”

 

Chad rolled his eyes.  “Please, dude, I’m not fucking _dumb_.  You just didn’t _do_ it right.”  He jabbed his gun at Meg and Jared froze momentarily.  “ _This_ wasn’t supposed to happen.  I mean, yeah, Genevieve always had to die but—you weren’t ever supposed to figure out it was me.  _You’re_ the one who fucking screwed things up.”  The gun bobbed in Jared’s direction this time.  “Too fucking smart for your own good.  Here’s what _should_ have happened.  Meg would have been implicated in the crimes.  You’d freak out, like you do, and I’d be there to comfort you.  And then I’d solve the crime, prove it was Gen and not Meg, and you’d fall into my waiting arms.”  He waved his other hand dismissively.  “Gen would have died somewhere in there, but really, who cares?”

 

 _Jared_ would have cared, but Chad obviously didn’t want to hear that.  He kept quiet as Chad rambled on, both obviously deluded and bizarrely still himself.  In a distant corner of his mind, Jared realized that this was the closest to truly insane he’d seen someone.  “Then, of course, _you_ had to be fucking smart and then fucking _Ackles_ came and it all went to shit.  But that’s okay.  Because I came up with a back-up plan.”  Chad’s eyes seemed to focus a little bit and the gun pointed back at Meg.  “I was never gonna hurt Meg.  But I figured, hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, yeah?  And if this is the only way I can have you, then… so be it.”

 

Chad shrugged and Jared almost lurched forward in fear.  “If you kill Meg, you won’t _ever_ have me!”  Jared promised, snarling it as vehemently as he could.  If Chad killed Meg in front of him, _for_ him, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself afterwards.  “If you fucking touch another hair on her head—”

 

“Whoa!”  Chad’s left hand lifted up in the air placatingly.  “Slow your roll, dude.  I’m not gonna kill her.  Not if you do what I say.”  He looked beseechingly at Jared, the same face he used to make when they were eating at a restaurant and he wanted a bite of Jared’s chocolate cake.  “All you have to do is come with me.  We’ll go to Canada or something.  You’ll be my jirai.  You’ll grow to love me.  I mean, we’re already good friends.  It can’t be too hard to be more, huh?”

 

Jared was not about to get Stockholm-ed into falling in love with Chad.  He had no intention of leaving Dallas but he’d go with Chad if he had to.  Silently, he prayed that Jensen’s troops would get there soon.  “If I go with you,” he said carefully, “what guarantee do I have that you’ll leave my family out of it after that?  What if I piss you off?  I don’t want to have to worry about you coming back here for Meg or my mom.”

 

“Dude!”  Chad looked sincerely hurt.  “I would _never_.  As long as you stayed with me and stayed faithful… Jared, I love you.  Sure, we might fight, but I’m not gonna fucking treat you like that.”

 

Chad now had his back to the windows.  Jared had managed to completely switch their positions, which meant _he_ —not Chad—had a full view of the backyard.  He thought he could see a telltale rustle of the shrubs, and he knew he had to keep Chad’s attention on him so the other man didn’t notice as well.  Hurriedly, Jared started talking again, hoping to keep his attention.  “You say you love me now, sure, but what about in a couple of years?  You’ll probably meet some pretty kitsune girl and then I’ll just be what?  Your jirai?  Your _whore_?”

 

Chad looked at him flatly.  “Dude, I murdered for you.  Somehow, I don’t see myself straying.”  He paused, and then relented, like it was a big deal.  “Look, if it makes you feel better, we can get married instead.  That way you _know_ I’m yours.”  Momentarily, he looked happy.  “It’s good that you’re feeling possessive, though.  That’s a good sign.”

 

“Marriage?”  Members of the DKPD and the DPDFU were sneaking into the backyard, guns aimed on Chad, but Chad seemed completely unaware.  Jared’s stalling was getting thin, so he hoped they would make a move soon.  “I’m not sure it’s even legal for us to get married anywhere, even Canada—”

 

“Stop stalling, Jared,” Chad cut him off.  He gestured for Jared to come over.  “You come _now_ or I shoot Meg in the head.”  He looked at Jared seriously.  “You know I will.”

 

Jared took one step forward and then a blast of light flashed in front of him, yanking Chad back through the glass windows.  They shattered in a screech of sound and Chad landed in the center of the backyard with a loud thump.  His head lolled to the side; he was obviously out cold.

 

Jared didn’t wait to see who had stepped in.  He had a feeling he knew either way.  Instead, he raced over to Meg, fingers shaking a bit as he tugged the knots open, releasing her as quickly as possible.  A surer set of fingers joined his and in seconds, Meg was free, pulling off the gag, sobbing loudly, and throwing herself into Jared’s arms.  “I thought you came here alone!” She wailed and beat her fists against his chest.  “I thought you were a stupid fucking idiot and came here alone and he was going to _take_ you!”

 

“Not quite that stupid,” Jared told her reassuringly, cradling her close.  He couldn’t imagine letting her go, not so soon.  “God, I was so scared you might be dead.  I thought he might have killed you.  _Meg_ —”

 

She hugged him even tighter, squeezing the air and words right out of him.  Burying his face in her hair, he breathed her in, reassuring himself that she was safe and sound.  He couldn’t smell blood, just the remnants of sour fear and the light breezy scent of relief.

 

When he looked up, minutes later, it was only because someone came conspicuously close to them.  He instantly half-shifted, snarling at whoever it was, until he saw it was Jensen.

 

Jensen’s expression didn’t change.  “Go home,” he told Jared.  “Detective Whitfield has said he’ll drive you.  Go home and secure your den.  You have the next couple of days off.”

 

Normally, Jared would have argued, but he _needed_ it.  He needed to go home and spend a few days not letting his mother or his sister out of his sight.  Otherwise, he felt like his instincts might make him go mad.  So he nodded once and then said, “Jensen.”

 

The other man blinked at him and Jared realized he didn’t actually know what to say.  “Thank you,” was what he settled for, even though it didn’t quite fit.  He meant a lot more than that, especially because he didn’t know if he’d see the man again.  Still, it was all he had to give.

 

Jensen didn’t seem too discontented with it.  He didn’t smile, exactly, but there were wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and the line of his lips didn’t seem quite so hard.  “Go home, Jared,” he said again, and Jared didn’t need anymore urging than that.

 

*

 

It was nearly a week before Jared saw Jensen again.  He’d offered to come back to work after the first three days, but Aldis had kindly turned him away.  “We’re mostly dealing with the fall-out of everything,” he’d told Jared.  “We don’t need you here right now.  You spend more time with your family.”

 

His mother, at least, was relieved that neither he nor Meg were leaving the house yet.  Meg had been shaky the first few days.  That first night, she hadn’t been able to get to sleep until Jared had shifted and crawled into bed with her.  She’d wrapped his smaller fox body up in her arms and cried into his fur until she fell asleep.

 

Meg was a trooper though.  She was making a visible effort to pull herself together and clearly wasn’t going to let her kidnapping dictate her future life and demeanor.  By day three of their seclusion, she was back to watching the news with a fervent sort of interest.  It raised Jared’s hackles, mostly because the news was primarily about _them_.

 

The Gauthier and Tapping murder case and its dramatic conclusion had apparently made national headlines.  Jared’s face was plastered nearly everywhere, because when Aldis had spoken to the press, he—and Jensen as well—had given Jared credit for solving the majority of the crime. The kitsune news stations had no idea how to handle the story, and neither did their viewers, apparently.   There was constant discussion on television over how, exactly, a young ‘fox detective could somehow figure out what the best and brightest of the DKPD could not—not to mention the most powerful kitsune in the world.  There were debates over what this meant about the differences in ‘fox and ‘tsune biology, which were only aggravated by the drastic changes Jensen was making to the Dallas police departments.

 

Jensen wasn’t necessarily visible in these changes.  Ostensibly, Aldis and Jeffrey Dean Morgan were the ones in charge, but Jared knew what was really going on.  Neither of them would’ve dared to make _any_ of the changes they were making without Jensen backing them, the first and most significant of which was combining the two Dallas police departments.

 

Meg and Jared watched the broadcast announcement live on their little TV.  Aldis and Jeff stood side-by-side.  Aldis did most of the talking, probably only because he knew the reporters would listen better to him.  Jeff was still there, not only on the stage, but at Aldis’s side.

 

Jared was pretty sure Jensen had written Aldis’s speech, but Aldis put his own conviction behind it.  “Citizens of Dallas, I know you have a lot of questions.  I’ve heard quite a few of them.  You’re asking why we’re combining these two departments, which have been separate since the founding of this city.  You’re asking how kitsunes and werefoxes can work together.  You’re asking, most of all, why a system that has worked for so long has to be torn apart.”  Aldis looked calmly out over the crowd for a moment.  “The truth of the matter, though, is that the system has _not_ been working.  It has been allowing for a level of injustice and corruption that shames both me and my fellow police chief, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  But most of all, it has been splitting and dividing our resources, when we could be using them much more efficiently.”

 

He paused and looked down at his podium, shuffling his papers a bit.  “What I saw this past week, fellow citizens, was extraordinary.  It was something I hadn’t thought possible.  I saw kitsunes and werefoxes working together and achieving something better than either could achieve alone.  Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles’s work together reached a level I could only call genius.  I am in awe of both men and what they managed to put together.  It is because of this that Chief Morgan and I have decided to combine our departments,” Aldis continued.  He glanced to the side to smile at Jeff, who smiled back.  “Werefoxes have skills and abilities that we kitsunes lack, and vice versa.  Together, I think we can make a truly unstoppable team that can change this city for the better.”  Aldis nodded his head, clearly done speaking.

 

No doubt to the surprise of most viewers, that was not the end.  Jeff cleared his throat and began speaking, continuing seamlessly where Aldis had left off.  “I’ve been chief of the DPDFU for a good decade now.  I’ve seen a great deal of cases pass through our halls and I’ve seen quite of a few of those get transferred over to the DKPD for various reasons, often after my detectives had already put in a great deal of work, which the DKPD detectives only had to do again.  Quite frankly, it was a waste of everyone’s damn time.”  This seems to shock a laugh out of some of the journalists.  “Now, I know there are prejudices there, on both sides.  But when people have a common goal… why, that’s something to be reckoned with.  I fully believe that both departments working together will bring a golden age, the likes of which this city have never seen.”  Jeff cracked a slight grin, one that seemed to invite people to join in the joke.  “Now I suppose some of you have a few more questions?”

 

Sure enough, the journalists started calling out things, most of which were pretty idiotic from where Jared was sitting.  One of the journalists even asked how the ‘foxes would be able to deal with the “constant reminder of their own genetic inferiority.”  Jared was happy to see both Aldis and Jeff shut the journalist down quickly.

 

From where she was sitting beside him, Meg didn’t look entirely satisfied.  “Notice how careful they were to not say anything about actual _equality_ or even similarities between the two races,” she complained.  “I mean, seriously, they were all about ‘we can bring different things to the table.’  Like we’re some new fucking tools for them to use.”

 

“You know that’s not how they meant it,” Jared chided her gently.  He did most everything with her gently nowadays, although he was sure that would stop soon enough.  She just still seemed a bit too delicate to him.  From the way she was glaring at him, though, she didn’t appreciate being treated like china anymore.  “Besides,” he added, “baby steps.  That’s what this is all about, right?”

 

“I just wish they’d take _bigger_ baby steps,” Meg muttered, but she didn’t complain further, instead flipping to another news station.

 

Of course, that one didn’t make her any happier.  They were running Mitch Pileggi’s version of the story, because every bit of progress had to have some bit of fallout.  In this particular case, Pileggi had come out and basically said that Jared had been nothing but a whore for Jensen, Aldis, and the rest.  He’d alleged that Jared had actually slept with _him_ in order to get his job as a consultant to the DKPD.  Though most people didn’t seem to believe this, certain news stations seemed to be fascinated with talking about it.

 

“Fuckers,” Meg told the TV before changing the channel again.  She was more angry about the whole thing than he was, honestly.  Ever since he’d gotten to punch Pileggi, Jared had had a hard time dredging up the appropriate amount of fury towards him.  Every time he tried, he just remembered the feeling of his fist flying into the man’s face and couldn’t help smiling.

 

On a more local level, even Void was shifting and changing, readjusting to the new world around it.  Mark Pellegrino had been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit homicide.  With him safe behind bars, other members of the Nogitsunes had come out of the woodwork and accused him of various other crimes, even if that meant confessing their own involvement.  The district took care of their own, and Genevieve _had_ been one of theirs.  From what Jared had heard through daily calls from Sam, anyone who’d decided to stay loyal to Mark was being run out of town and the Nogitsunes were pretty much disbanding.

 

The youngest Chau kid had even dropped by, shamefaced.  “I didn’t know what she was going to do with the information,” he’d told Jared, looking more than a bit terrified.  “I swear I didn’t.”

 

“I know,” Jared had told him.  The kid had hung around for a while after that and he and Meg had hit it off.  He’d been dropping by daily ever since, and it sounded like Meg had talked him into trying to get a scholarship so he could go to university.  Jared kept an eye on them, which was fairly easy given the size of the house.  He just didn’t quite like what Meg’s giggling might signify.

 

His mother had told him to lay off the overprotective older brother act.  “I happen to like Osric,” she’d said quietly while Meg and the kid were holed up working in Meg’s bedroom.  “He and Meg will do well together, I think.”

 

“She’s too young to be dating,” he grumbled, even though Meg was nearly twenty-two.  He maintained his position, even when Meg slapped him over the head later that evening for scaring Osric off.

 

It was probably a blessing when Jensen showed up.

 

Jensen didn’t even bother trying to be subtle.  He pulled up right in front of Jared’s house in a trim black sports car.  Meg, who’d peered out the window to see what the noise was, looked over at Jared with wide eyes.  “I think it’s for you,” she said, and then nearly pushed him out the door.

 

With the way Jared’s world had been practically shifting beneath his feet, he’d almost felt like Jensen would look different when he saw him again, but he looked just the same.  He didn’t smile when Jared exited the house, didn’t even move.  He just stayed where he was leaned up against the passenger door of his car and waited for Jared to come to him.

 

“Hey,” Jared said.  His neighbors were staring.  Jared jammed his hands in his pockets and looked evenly at Jensen, ignoring them.  “I didn’t think you were gonna stop by.”

 

“I wasn’t,” Jensen answered, as bluntly honest as ever.  “But you haven’t come back into work yet and I’m leaving tomorrow, so a visit became a necessity.”  His gaze slid to Jared’s right, and Jared could hear his neighbors scampering off.  “Meg’s doing well,” he said, a statement instead of a question.

 

Automatically, Jared glanced back at the house.  Quite obviously, one of the curtains dropped back into place.  “Yeah, she seems to be handling it okay,” he agreed.  He hesitated, then asked, “what’s going on with Chad?”

 

Jensen’s lips pursed minutely.  “He’s pleading guilty.  I believe his lawyer is trying to get him sent to a mental hospital instead of prison, on grounds that he is _clearly_ insane.”  Jensen rolled his eyes, upper lip curling in slight, dignified derision.  “We’ll have to see what the judge thinks on that one.”

 

Jared was pretty sure that Jensen could influence the decision if he wanted to, but he was equally sure that he wouldn’t.  “Well,” Jared said, and then realized he really didn’t have anything else to say on the matter of Chad.  “I guess you’re work is all done then.  Perps have been caught, police all fixed up.  Where are you heading next?”

 

Jensen’s fingers drummed against the shiny black of his car’s paint.  “Chicago has a case they want me to look at,” he informed Jared.  “Two birds one stone worked pretty well the first time.”  He shrugged.  “No reason to think it won’t work just as well the second time.”

 

“Yeah,” Jared agreed.  There was a bit of breeze and it blew his hair into his face until he pushed it back out of the way again with annoyance.  “Aldis will be sad to see you go.”

 

Jensen hummed neutrally.  “He’ll get on fine,” he said after a moment.  He fixed his eyes on Jared again, instead of the surrounding area.  “Your place on the force is secure, by the way.  Aldis has set you up so you’ll be working with Chris Kane if you come back.  Apparently he’s the best kitsune homicide detective they have.”

 

The words felt odd to Jared.  He frowned at Jensen.  “ _If_ I come back?” He questioned.  “I hadn’t realized there was an ‘if’ about it.”

 

That made Jensen smile crookedly, close-lipped as always but still strangely warm.  “That’s because I haven’t told you yet.”  He pushed off the side of the car, walking forward a few steps so he was standing nearly toe-to-toe with Jared.  He looked up at Jared seriously.  “Jared, you’re wasted here.”

 

When Jared started to object, Jensen raised one eyebrow.  “Let me finish.”  He paused, and when he seemed confident Jared wouldn’t interrupt again, he resumed talking.  “Dallas is a big city, sure, and you’ll see plenty of crime.  Obviously, you can handle that just fine.  But…”  Jensen tilted his head to the side and said carefully, “when I met you, Jared, you seemed like you’d been trapped in your own skin for years.  Like you’d thought you’d had to contain yourself to this one thing.  If you stay here, you’re never gonna have a chance to be more than that.  _But_ , if you come with _me…_ ”  Jensen trailed off significantly, looking up at Jared through his eyelashes.  “We make a good team, Jared.  I want you to come with me, help me while I make all these reforms.  I can’t think of anyone that would be better suited to the task.”

 

“Jesus.”  Jared backed away a step, just because he needed some space to breathe and it felt like Jensen sucked up all the air around him.  “You want me to be… what?  Your fucking assistant?”

 

Jensen snorted and his smile was wry.  “I was thinking more along the lines of my partner, actually.  And the fucking part is mostly up to you, don’t you think?”

 

Tongue darting out, Jared wet his lower lip unconsciously before gnawing on it a bit.  “If I went with you, you’d get bored of me,” was what he said eventually.  “You said you liked me because I was interesting.  There’s only so much of me to discover, you know?  At some point, you’re going to reach the end and then where would I be?”  He shook his head jerkily.  “I can’t take a risk like that.”

 

Jensen frowned, like what Jared was saying wasn’t quite making sense.  “I could say that I don’t think you’d ever bore me.  I could say that I said you were interesting, but I never said that that was all there was to it.  I could say a lot of things.”  He paused after that, looking at Jared evenly, steady even though Jared felt like he was going to jitter right out of his skin.  “But somehow I don’t think you’ll listen to me.”  Reaching forward, he tucked a strand of Jared’s hair back behind his ear.  “Think on it, Jared.  I’ll be back tomorrow morning to hear your decision,” Jensen told him.

 

After dropping the offer, Jensen got back into the driver’s seat and drove away.  Jared watched as he left, and then walked slowly back into the house.  Meg was sitting on the couch, flicking through TV channels far too fast for Jared to be convinced she was actually watching anything.  The silence was conspicuous; even the TV was on mute.  Taking the hint, Jared sat down beside his sister.  She didn’t look at him, just kept looking straight ahead as she said, “he asked you to go away with him, didn’t he.”  It wasn’t a question.

 

“How’d you know?” Jared asked instead of answering.  He figured that was confirmation enough.

 

She shrugged slightly, her lips pressed into a thin line.  “Please.  I could see it coming from the first time he came over here.  He kept watching you like he was making all these plans in his head and he couldn’t imagine you not being in them.”  She paused and turned the TV off with a harsh jab of her thumb on the remote.  “You slept with him, right?”

 

Jared nearly choked on air.  “Jeez, Meg!  Not your business!”

 

She pinned him with a harsh glare.  “In this case?  I kinda think it is.”  Her nose wrinkled upwards.  “Especially because our little hug right after I was kidnapped _reeked_ of his spunk.”

 

“I’m leaving,” Jared said, half-standing, because really, he could _not_ get out of this conversation fast enough.

 

Meg grabbed onto his arm and pulled him firmly back down.  “Don’t even think about it, Jared Padalecki,” she said threateningly.  “We’re gonna talk this out.  Because otherwise you’re just going to brood and not go with him and I’ll have to put up with your skulking for months.”

 

Surprised, he looked back over at her.  “What, you _want_ me to go?”  He raised his eyebrows skeptically.  “Seriously, you _want_ me to go off with _Jensen Ackles_?  I thought you said not to do anything you wouldn’t.”

 

“Yeah, well.”  Meg waved a hand dismissively.  “I wouldn’t do this, you’re right.  But I’m also not you.  I believe in protesting and petitioning and screaming loud enough that they _can’t_ ignore me anymore.  But you’re not like that.”  She looked down at her hands in her lap and fiddled with the fabric of her jeans.  “I used to think you were a bit of a coward, actually, ‘cause you were always talking about waiting and keeping quiet.  I didn’t realize that you were rebelling just as much, just doing what you did.  You know, you’ve done more for our cause in this one week than anyone else in this town, even though some people have been at it for ages.”  Meg gestured to him, like she couldn’t quite put it all together.  “You’re all action.  You just do what you do and _dare_ them to look at you and dismiss you.  That’s its own kind of rebelling.  I shouldn’t have dismissed it.”

 

Jared was a quiet for a moment. Then he reached over, pulled one of Meg’s hands out of her lap, and held it in his own.  “You make it sound like something a lot more brave and deliberate than it is,” he said softly.  “Most of the time I think I’m being stupid, just letting my pride get the best of me.”

 

“Maybe you are.”  Meg shrugged again.  “But you’re still _doing_ something.  You’re still _showing_ them, proving they were all wrong.  And _he’s_ giving you an opportunity to keep doing that.  You can’t tell me you aren’t tempted.”

 

It was true.  Jared _was_ tempted, but he’d dismissed it almost as soon as Jensen had made the offer.  After all, he’d been right with what he’d said outside; Jensen _would_ get bored of him, and Jared would then be out of a job, and would have left his family as well.  Besides, there _was_ his family to worry about.  He couldn’t imagine leaving Meg and his mom on their own.  Couldn’t imagine leaving Void either, even though there was a part of him that _did_ want to get out, see the rest of the world, and change it until it was as beautiful as the deceptively pretty city skylines at night.

 

Almost as if she could read the thoughts right out of his head, Meg said, “you need to stop worrying about Mom and me too.  I know Mom seems kind of fragile, and maybe she is, a bit.  But she’s got friends here, people who’ll take care of her.  And I’m an adult, Jared.  I have been for a while now.  I’m going to go into my last year of university and then I’m going to get a job.  And we’ll miss you, but we’ll be just fine without you.”  She squeezed his hand where it was cradling hers.  “You’ve already done your part here.  You don’t have to stay for us.”

 

Jared ran his free hand over his face with a sigh.  “It’s not just you,” he said reluctantly.  “It’s just… even if I _could_ believe that you would be fine if I left, there’s more to it than that.  He’s a freaking _eight-tailed kitsune_ and I’m just some half-breed ‘fox from the bad part of a big city.  At some point, he’s going to see that I’m not as interesting as he keeps making me out to be.”  Jared shook his head.  “I know what I am.  And I’m plenty of things, sure.  But whatever he thinks I am?  I’m not that.  And even if I was...”  Jared stared over Meg’s head as he said the next bit, unwilling to look her in the eye as he spoke.  “He’s still a kitsune.  You know how they are.  You know Sam’s girls who pin their hopes on some tail who tells them sweet things and gives them pretty gifts.  You know how they get when the tails just disappear eventually, when they move on.  I’m not going to be one of those girls.”

 

Meg didn’t make a joke about how he wasn’t a girl in the first place, which he was half-afraid she would.  Instead, she looked down at their intertwined hands contemplatively.  “I think…” she said slowly, as if she was feeling the words out before speaking them, “that maybe you should think of him less as ‘just another kitsune’ and think of him more as _Jensen_.  They’re not the same thing, I think.”

 

Her words rang in Jared’s mind, eerily calling to mind what Jensen had said to him when he’d first purposed they sleep together:  _“Why don’t you try thinking of it less as some generic werefox having sex with some generic kitsune, and more as you having sex with me?”_ The sex they’d had _hadn’t_ been typical.  Jared hadn’t been told to get on his hands and knees, hadn’t been refused a kiss or a touch.  Jensen had treated him like it was just perfectly normal sex between two equals—although perhaps “normal” wasn’t quite the right word.

 

He’d let Jared take in his scent and had taken in Jared’s own.

 

“It’s a lot to think about,” he hedged, not really wanting to talk about it with Meg further.  It made him feel twitchy and unsettled, and he fidgeted where he was sitting on the couch.  “It’s a big decision to make.  He’s leaving tomorrow.”

 

“It’s a good thing you don’t have much to pack, then,” Meg said, smiling over at him a bit wistfully.  It made his stomach clench to see how convinced she was that he was going to leave.  Leaning over, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him.  He was quick to hug her back, rocking them back and forth a few times as he breathed in her safe, healthy scent.  “You’ll make the right choice, Jared,” she whispered in his ear.  She kissed his cheek before she pulled away and moved quietly into her bedroom.

 

The door shut behind her and Jared let himself fall back onto the couch.  The two sides of his mind were at war, not to mention where his heart stood on the whole matter.  He felt like time was going by too fast; there was no way he would be able to make a decision by the next day.

 

He didn’t love Jensen, not yet.  He knew that.  He would someday, if he let himself stay around Jensen.  He knew that as surely as he knew that Meg and his mother would always come first for him.  There was something about Jensen that just _caught_ Jared; he was already halfway to head-over-heels, but he wasn’t in love _yet_ , and that meant he could still escape it.

 

What he _was_ in love with was what Jensen had offered him; a life of freedom, of _doing_ things, of changing people’s opinions and capturing lawbreakers.  Just the idea made his heart beat faster.  It was what he had secretly hoped for when he’d joined the police, even though rationally he knew he’d have to keep his head low; he’d hoped that he’d be able to do something _big_ , to change something.  Not for the attention or the fame, but just so he could know that he had done _something_.  So that he could wake up and know that somewhere out there, his mark was on something and it had shifted because of him.

 

“Fuck,” he whispered to himself.  He kept arguing the matter over and over again in his mind until he finally passed out.

 

 

*

 

 

When he woke up at five in the morning the next day, his mind was crystal clear.  As quietly as he could, he packed the few possessions he knew he’d have to take with him into his one dufflebag.  It really was pretty pathetic, to be honest, but he was glad for it, because having to leave material things behind would make this all that much worse.

 

Five minutes before six, he heard the low rumble of a car engine driving up the street and he slipped into Meg’s room.

 

He looked down at her where she was still asleep and realized, for perhaps the first time, that he was looking at an adult.  Meg was a woman; she’d grown beyond the little sister he’d once cared for so diligently.  She was all grown up, with her own strong thoughts and opinions.  He knew, someday, she’d do far more than he’d ever dared to do.  Meg was much braver than he’d ever been.  If one of them was going to _really_ change things, it would be her.

 

Leaning down, he brushed his lips against her forehead.  Her eyes fluttered half-open and she smiled sleepily up at him.  “You’re going then?” She said, her voice husky with sleep.

 

“Yeah,” he said, smoothing her hair back from her face and memorizing her scent, the scent of home.  “I’m going.”

 

“You’re making the right choice,” she told him, leaning into his hand.  “I’m proud of you.”

 

His heart nearly burst at hearing those words.  He thought, abstractly, that most people wouldn’t think that their little sibling’s pride would matter so much, but for him, it did.  “I’m proud of you too,” he told her.  “I’m going to miss you most of all.”

 

She laughed a bit at that, childish little giggles that she’d had since she was a baby.  “I’ll miss you too, Dorothy,” she whispered, and reached up to swipe her hand across his cheek. “Why don’t you skip the ruby slippers and pick up a cellphone instead?”

 

“I will,” he promised.  In the corner of the room, Meg’s clock ticked.  “Tell Mom and Sam…”

 

He didn’t know how to finish the sentence, but Meg seemed to understand regardless.  “I will,” she promised in return.  Light was creeping in around the edges of her curtain, through the window in her room.  “I love you, Jared.”

 

“I love you too.”

 

He watched as her eyes slipped closed again and, for a moment, the urge to stay was almost too strong to fight.  Then he heard the slight growl of a car engine again and managed to stand up and walk out of the room without looking back.

 

He headed out the front door, duffle slung over his shoulder.  When he got to where the black car was sitting in front of his house, he leaned down to look through the open passenger-side window.  “I want triple what the DKPD pays me,” he said bluntly.  “And visits to Dallas every other month.”

 

“Done and done.”  Jensen was wearing dark sunglasses on top of his head, and the cuff that should have been around his wrist was sitting in one of the cupholders instead.  “Are you getting in?”

 

Jared didn’t bother answering.  Instead, he pulled the door open and tossed his duffle into the backseat before buckling in.  “So, Chicago, huh?” He said, drumming his fingers on the door.

 

“Yup.”  Jensen signaled, even though there was no one else on the road, then gunned straight down the street, heading away from Heaven District and towards the city limits.  “I’ll tell you about it on the drive.”  With a flick of his fingers, he moved his sunglasses down to cover his eyes and grinned over at Jared, teeth and everything.  “Welcome to the rest of the world, Jared.”

 

Jared looked at the road in front of them and Void disappearing around them, and grinned back.  “Glad to be here,” he answered.

 

And they kept driving.


End file.
